Changes both big and small

Being built on a 375-acre site between Dickinson and South Heart, the diesel topping plant is expected to refine about 20,000 barrels of sweet Bakken crude every day once it’s up and running.

The first greenfield refinery to be built in the U.S. since 1976, Dakota Prairie Refinery is a joint venture between MDU Resources and Calumet Specialty Products Partners. The facility now employs between 400 and 500 people during its construction phase and will have 100 full-time workers once it’s completed, according to Calumet’s website.

On the recreation side, 2013 was another banner year for the Pheasant Country Golf Course, an 18-hole layout the quality of which is generally not seen in a town as small as South Heart.

“It’s been pretty crazy,” said course professional Kirby Robb. “You see new faces all the time during the season. There aren’t a lot of golf courses in the area, so this is one that gets played a lot. You used to know almost everybody who came to your course. Now you don’t know nearly three-fourths of them.”

Since coming to South Heart from Fargo in 2006, Robb said he has witnessed a dramatic uptick in rounds played and memberships.

“Last year, we had about as much business as in 2012 with a month and a half of the season left,” Robb said. “I think it’s going to be crazy from now on. We have lots of new members and have people that you only see once, too. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the next 20 years here with all the growth in western North Dakota. Will Dickinson and South Heart become one city? Dickinson keeps on moving west.”