Architects, state officials present revised Jamestown state hospital design, target $300 million budget

The House Appropriations Committee’s Human Resources Division received a detailed update from architects and state hospital leaders on a proposed replacement of the North Dakota State Hospital in Jamestown, including a target $300 million total project budget, a 141‑bed program and a planned construction start in July or August 2025.

The presentation, led by Pam Sagness, executive director of Behavioral Health at the Department of Health and Human Services; owner’s representative Mike Van Clie of TIGER Group; architect Mark Hunze of JLG Architects; construction manager Joanna Slominski of Mortenson; and others, described design decisions intended to consolidate roughly 546,000 square feet across 30 existing campus buildings into a modern facility of about 295,000 square feet. The team said the budget target reflects value engineering and scope reductions, and that occupancy is planned for December 2027 if the schedule holds.

Why it matters: planning officials said the new facility would reduce long‑term maintenance and utilities costs, improve therapeutic space and staff efficiency, and replace buildings with documented deferred maintenance. The committee heard that the design balances inpatient capacity with community services already expanding across North Dakota.

Design, site and program The team said it evaluated about 25 sites and settled on a location immediately west of the existing state hospital campus in Jamestown, adjacent to Interstate 94, to keep the project contiguous to the community and to…