EPA officials tour progress of Old Main renovations in Bottineau

BOTTINEAU, N.D. (KMOT) - It’s no secret that there’s a shortage across the country for workers in the medical profession.

One of our state’s colleges is working to counter that by renovating a more-than-century old building on its campus to expand its nursing program.

Members of the EPA brownfields program toured the Old Main building on the Dakota College at Bottineau campus Wednesday.

The EPA provided a grant to the college to remove asbestos from the building.

The goal is to use the more than 16,000 square feet of Old Main as the new home for the college’s nursing program.

The college hopes the larger space will allow them to expand enrollment for nursing students from the current limit of 35 to more than 100, and allow more rural nurses to get the education they need to go out in the field.

“It is just fantastic to have been successful at attaining that grant, because it really allowed us to fully analyze that facility to make sure that when we’re complete, it’s completely safe for our students and for our faculty and staff who work in that facility. So being able to have an EPA stamp of approval right on that facility really makes me feel good about that project,” said Dr. Carmen Simone, campus dean.

Campus leadership said that, now with the asbestos abatement completed, they’re now moving forward with the rest of the renovations of Old Main, to transform it into the new nursing program facility.

“We are working on the bid process right now, and trying to see where we’re going to fall, and got a lot of work to do on that. I think we pretty much have the layout and the design kind of figured out, it’s just a matter of getting our pricing in order, and seeing where it all falls,” said Chris Nero, campus physical plant director.

Simone said they plan to have the program moved into Old Main and ready to go by Fall 2024.