PROPOSED HIGHER ED CENTER
RAPID CITY, S.D. – A community forum
with Board of Regents’ Executive
Director Robert T. Tad Perry is
scheduled tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan. 21)
to discuss the Higher Education
Center-West River facility planned for
construction in Rapid City.
Perry will meet with community leaders
and other interested citizens from 9-10
a.m. (MST) at a forum hosted by the
Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce in
the chamber’s board room (Room 207) at
the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. The
public is invited to attend.
“Public higher education has served the
Rapid City market for more than 50
years, primarily through an educational
facility located at Ellsworth Air Force
Base,” Perry said. “But with the
Ellsworth facility no longer available
to us, we have resorted to meeting in
various locations all over Rapid City.”
Perry said it is critical to expand
public higher education access in this
region now. He pointed to U.S. Census
data that show West River residents ages
25 and older have lower levels of
bachelor’s degree attainment than either
the state or national averages. “These
individuals tend to have families and
hold down full-time jobs, so it is very
important to offer convenience in
educational opportunities,” Perry said.
He said a single dedicated facility fits
the bill, by providing easy access to
students from the air base and other
Black Hills communities, a
highly-identifiable location just off
the interstate highway, and one-stop
services for students.
Perry said the Board of Regents has
advanced a plan to construct the Higher
Education Center-West River without
state general funds. “In these
challenging economic times, we have
advanced a solid plan to move forward
that does not request general fund
dollars from the state,” he noted. He
said Rep. David Lust (R-Rapid City)
plans to introduce a bill shortly to
authorize the project.
The proposed center will be located on
40.32 acres off Elk Vale Road at Exit 61
in east Rapid City. Twelve acres of the
property were donated to the state last
year, and the remaining 28.32 acres are
to be purchased through a grant from the
Great Plains Educational Foundation.
The financing package for the
54-thousand square-foot facility calls
for $13.4 million to be financed by
revenue bonds repaid over 25 years from
student fees deposited in the state’s
Higher Education Facilities Fund.
Another $2.6 million in funding is
possible from non-public sources.
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