New tech campus to be built

Project a joint effort with school districts

By: Paul Lash

Posted: 11/16/09

NIC will complement the Educational Corridor development with a $1.1 million, 40-acre purchase for the new Kootenai Technical Educational Campus (KTEC).

Trustees voiced unanimous support Oct. 29 for school administration to pursue purchasing the property located south of Rathdrum near the intersection of Lancaster and Meyer.

"Our attorney (Mark Lyons) is in the process of letting the sellers know that we are exercising our option to purchase," said John Martin, vice president for Community Relations and Marketing.

The property is being purchased from the Meyer family of Rathdrum Prairie landowners (no relation to NIC Trustee Judy Meyer).

KTEC will be a 100-acre campus collaboratively owned and operated by Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland school districts for the purpose of enhancing Professional/Technical Education (PTE) opportunities in Kootenai County.

PTE programs such as welding, diesel mechanics and other trades and industry programs will be expanded and moved to KTEC. Allied Health and business programs will be expanded and remain at the Coeur d'Alene campus.

"Our first priority for the fiscal year 2011 is money to build a PTE facility on the prairie," Martin said.

In October Martin requested $20 million for a KTEC PTE building from Idaho's Permanent Building Fund Advisory Council (PBFAC). If the PBFAC gives the go-ahead, the capital budget request will go before the Department of Public Works for fiscal year 2011.

"It will be a while before we get our building, but we're getting there," said Board Chair Christie Wood.

Lakeland School District will build its new high school on a 40-acre parcel being purchased for $1.1 million. The remaining 20-acres will house a magnet PTE academy.

"KTEC creates a focal point to move high school trades and industry students directly to NIC programs," Martin said. "We are working to meet the needs of the community and employers."

The City of Rathdrum will work to complete the necessary annexation, site plan approvals, utility hookups, building and other permits for the site. Rathdrum will submit a grant application for Economic Development Agency (EDA) funds to develop the site's infrastructure.

Various partner groups have submitted letters supporting the city's grant application including the Kootenai County Professional/Technical CampusCommittee (KCPTCC). The KCPTCC is a coalition including representatives from North Idaho Manufacturer's Consortium, Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland school districts, North Idaho College and the City of Rathdrum. They are responsible for the original property purchase outline.

In addition to the $20 million PTE building request for KTEC, NIC fiscal year 2011 will see the remodel of Seiter Hall and continued negotiations with the city regarding mill site development.

"It is all dependent upon the legislature and whether they have the money and whether it's our turn to get it or not," Martin said.