Watertown School Board Approves $24,500 Concept Design Contract for Northeast Technical High School Addition and Remodel
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - Ten years after taking ownership of the Northeast Technical High School building and land to position the facility for a future remodel, the Watertown School Board voted unanimously Monday night, Nov. 9, to approve a $24,500 preliminary concept design contract with CO-OP Architecture.
The motion under Agenda Item 6.3.2 was made by board member Kari Lohr, seconded by Jean Moulton, and carried unanimously.
A Decade in the Making: Why Watertown Owns the NTHS Facility
Following discussions at the board's Oct. 26 fall planning work session, Superintendent Dr. Jeff Danielsen and board members outlined the 10-year history behind the facility agreement with the multi-district Northeast Technical High School Board.
In 2016, the Watertown School District signed an agreement with the NTHS Board to take over ownership of the building and land at 1311 3rd Ave. NE, with the understanding that Watertown would help facilitate a building remodel. After one extension of that agreement, the timeline is now coming due for the district to formally evaluate expansion and renovation concepts.
As board members and Danielsen explained during Monday's meeting, ownership was transferred to the Watertown School District because multi-district career and technical education cooperatives cannot issue bonds or capital outlay certificates under state law. Additionally, in 2016, individual school districts across South Dakota—including Aberdeen, Sioux Falls, and Mitchell—were receiving state Department of Labor matching grants to construct or expand CTE facilities.
"About the time we took over is about the time those funds dried up, which is kind of why we've stalled a little bit because we've been seeking some sort of match, including we had it kind of teed up in the Legislature a couple of years ago, and that got changed to an equipment fund versus a building fund," Danielsen said. "So we did get—we were the recipient of quite a bit of equipment out of that, almost $1,000,000 actually of equipment. So it helped our programming, but we were really looking for funds to help match what we could do with a building. So we're still looking for that."
Danielsen noted he would brief the area superintendents on the concept design launch at their Tuesday meeting and update the full Northeast Technical High School Board at next week's board meeting.
Scope of the $24,500 Preliminary Concept Design
Under the Nov. 4 proposal submitted by CO-OP Architecture Principal Architect Jason Kann, the $24,500 flat fee covers preliminary concept design services, including:
· Three to four meetings with the Building Committee and School Board between November 2026 and February 2027 to establish programming and priorities.
· Three to four public meetings between April and June 2027 to gather staff and community input.
· Development of project budgets, schedules, phasing, and contractor delivery options.
· Two to three exterior renderings and two to three interior renderings, with preliminary concepts slated for March 2027 and final presentation materials in April 2027.
A preliminary site concept from the 2021 District Master Plan included in the board packet illustrates potential shop expansions for automotive, woods, and building trades, a central food lab, an indoor project showcase area, an additional outdoor house-build area, and 63 parking spaces.
