Bismarck sells off giant sand and salt tent

Bismarck, North Dakota – A recent agreement was reached by the City of Bismarck to dispose of a sizable building from its Public Works location.

The city invited bids to purchase its approximately 17,000 square-foot blue and white tent, which was used all year long by personnel to store salt and sand.

The 20-year-old tent will be purchased by the winning bidder for $35,000.

According to Steve Salwei, director of public works, the department has been growing. A new fueling site has been built, and a new tent has been ordered.

“One may look at the structure and say, why do you need such a big structure? But we have many, many tons, hundreds of thousands of tons of sand that we have to purchase on a yearly basis,” Salwei said. “And we have to have that put in here in the fall ahead of time, we have to make sure we have the sand purchased ahead of time in case we get an early storm.”

According to Salwei, the winning bidder is a farmer and building contractor who informed the city that he anticipates being able to disassemble and relocate the enormous tent in just three days.