Published in The Mystician 84.5, Page 4
With the whirring and thrashing of excavators, the tennis court and the surrounding trees were torn out of the ground, leaving piles of dirt, dust and rock in their wake. What lies ahead with this sudden change in atmosphere and what does it bring next? That is left up to those in The Buildings and Grounds Department at Bismarck State College.
The BSC’s tennis courts, located between the National Energy Center of Excellence and the BSC Armory were demolished in November 2022, clearing the land for a new building labeled the “Polytechnic Building.''
A groundbreaking ceremony took place in the Basin Electric Auditorium inside the BSC National Energy Center of Excellence on Nov. 29. Speaking guests included BSC President Doug Jensen, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, BSC Executive Business and Industry Leadership Team Chair Dave Farnsworth, BSC Polytechnic Program Outreach Director Alicia Uhde and BSC student Paul Hanebutt.
During the press conference, Burgum praised the project’s concept of equipping students with the skills and degrees ready for local demand, saying that education has to be more responsive to workforce needs.
"If the private sector is sending signals that we need more nurses, we need more power plant operators, we need more folks that understand advanced material science, we need more UAS operators — you name all the fields we have, and we need schools who are helping provide those career paths for our young people," Burgum said.
Since then, construction on the new facility has progressed. Crews spent much of November clearing debris from the site, such as leftover concrete from the courts and trees. Construction crews spent December clearing out a space for the new building by digging up and clearing dirt from the site despite heavy snowfall from two major blizzards and bitter cold conditions.
The Polytechnic building will include hands-on labs and project-based classes where students can collaborate on advanced applied research to build equipment and programming for various industries.
Since 2018, BSC has dedicated itself to transitioning into a Polytechnic institute, commissioning studies with the National Coalition of Advanced Technology and Gray Associates to determine the skills needed in the North Dakota workforce to prepare students for industry jobs.
“Our state’s investment in BSC is timely, substantial and provides the resources necessary to expand academic programs and educational services to address the trends and needs of our students, communities and industry workforce,” Jensen said in a story published in December 2021 on the BSC website.
“North Dakota needs a mechanism to ensure we have the highly skilled workforce our public and private sector stakeholders need to continue to sustain and grow our economy. BSC is now positioned to build the talent pipeline that will impact the economy now and for many years into the future.”
In 2021 during a special session of the North Dakota Legislature, Gov. Burgum signed Senate Bill 2345, granting BSC $38 million from state fiscal funds for the construction of the facility.
The project is estimated to be completed and opened in time for the fall 2024 semester.
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