BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The state Historical Society is slated to decide whether the state should purchase of Lawrence Welk's boyhood home in the south central North Dakota town of Strasburg.

Historical Society Director Merl Paaverud says he expects the agency's board to make the decision Friday to buy the bandleader's birthplace.

The Legislature this year included $100,000 in the Historical Society's budget for the purchase but lawmakers stipulated that repairs must be made before the purchase.

The idea comes two decades after Congress earmarked $500,000 in federal funds to develop a tourist industry in Strasburg. The money included a museum of German-Russian heritage that was intended to draw visitors to the bandleader's birthplace.

Lawmakers later withdrew the money when the idea was mocked as a national symbol of wasteful spending.

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