Historic Charm Meets New Opportunity at The Reyleck

Renovations remain on track to continue through the end of the year, with a targeted opening in Q1 2027.

Week by week, The Reyleck is coming back to life. Soon, this historic Grafton building will become a regional innovation and development hub serving Northeastern North Dakota—a place where entrepreneurs, organizations, and community members can gather, collaborate, and turn ideas into action.

From the beginning, the vision has been clear: preserve the character that makes The Reyleck special while creating a modern, welcoming space for anyone with an idea. When complete, the building will offer places to connect, cowork, meet, learn, and access a shared-use commercial kitchen.

Much of the transformation is happening behind the scenes, but meaningful progress is visible outside, too. The alleyway brick wall recently received a fresh coat of paint, the interior ceiling color has been selected, and careful restoration work is underway to uncover the original 1916 signage—“REYLECK DEPARTMENT STORE”—engraved in a concrete-like material.

With many of the fine-detail design decisions now made, attention is shifting toward programming and fundraising. The next priority is to fully furnish the commercial kitchen, equip the conference rooms with video conferencing capabilities, and complete the coworking, office, and gathering areas. The short-term fundraising goal is $200,000 to be move-in ready, with an additional $365,000 needed to complete the furnishings.

We are deeply grateful to the partners, donors, grantmakers, and supporters who have believed in this vision from the start. Their gifts, grants, and in-kind contributions have helped make the building renovations possible, and we look forward to sharing an early look at the $2.6 million construction project in late 2026.

In the meantime, mark your calendar for the week of September 14. That’s when the window delivery is scheduled, and the new storefront is expected to dramatically transform.

The building’s appearance—bringing its historic character back to the heart of Hill Avenue in Grafton, ND. More updates are ahead as we continue building out www.TheReyleck.com and prepare future community engagement opportunities through Region 4. These conversations will help gather ideas for educational programming, events, meetings, and workshops, while offering a chance to answer questions and invite anyone with an idea—or an interest in getting involved—to become an active part of The Reyleck community.