A Howard native who has made money in the wind turbine business is putting some of it into the former South Dakota School for the Blind campus in the Deuel County town of Gary, right on the Minnesota border.

Joe Kolbach heads up the effort to turn the century-old campus into the Buffalo Ridge Resort and Business Center -- including hotel rooms, office space, a recreation center, banquet facilities and a campground.

Workers have converted a boys dormitory into a 19-unit hotel. Woodbury Hall, the former girls dorm, will hold a banquet hall and offices. Laundry services and a recreation center also are being built.

The plan is that Kolbach's connection to Airstreams, a California company that does technical and safety training on wind turbines, will help fill the hotel Monday through Thursdays most weeks as workers are brought in for wind tower safety training.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)