Career and Technical Center options: roughly $80M–$117M range, several designs under review

Director Benton presented six conceptual options from the CTC feasibility study, outlining footprint changes, accessibility fixes, capacity changes and cost estimates the Joint Operating Committee (JOC) will finalize on Oct. 21.

Benton said the current CTC building is about 166,000 square feet and the proposals would increase that to roughly 200,000–205,000 square feet — an increase of about 50,000 square feet. "Whenever you do anything, you have to bring everything back into ADA compliance," Benton said, pointing to a ramp and hallway the study would address in renovation options.

The consultants provided six schematic options: Option A keeps the existing five-wing footprint while adding mechanicals and adjustments; Options B and C reconfigure wings and remove the ramp by narrowing the footprint; Option D splits wings into two buildings; Option E introduces a two-story replacement of the center wing to shrink the roof footprint; Option F is a new, two-story building constructed on site with demolition of the five wings after the new building is complete.

Benton said renovation options A–E generally carry 30–40 month construction windows and would disrupt hands-on CTC instruction, because trades classes (welding, precision machining, auto body, automotive) cannot be run from mobilized trailers. "They will get their theory portion, they just won't get their hands on portion," he said. By contrast, Option F (a new building erected while classes continue) would allow programs to transfer over a summer with "very minimal adverse on the educational process."

Benton gave high-level cost estimates shown on a final slide. He presented Option A's baseline mechanical and select renovations at about $44,000,000, new added space at about $23,000,000, hard costs and contingency leading to a roughly $80,000,000 total. He said Options B, C and D had "overall cost there is roughly around $90,000,000," and Option E was "around $95,000,000." Benton said Option F had the largest contingency and a figure he gave for that contingency was $117,000,000; he also noted a new-build roof would be expected to last 25–30 years and so lacks near-term roof replacement costs.

At the meeting, participants flagged major outstanding questions: how costs would be apportioned among the six sending districts, how bond payments would be calculated, and the timing of financing and design. One board member noted the CTC's founding "articles" were revised in the 1980s and 1990s and said bond-payment formulas for larger districts remain unresolved; those governance and financing questions must be answered before districts can commit to a bond repayment schedule.

Benton and other administrators discussed a projected timeline: the JOC would finalize the feasibility study Oct. 21; a formal design phase would follow (12–18 months); the earliest ground-breaking the presenter cited, in a best-case scenario, would be 2027. Benton said the team is assuming long-term financing, noting he had been projecting a 30-year bond schedule in planning.

Capacity: Benton said all options would increase student capacity. He said current program capacity varies by program (the transcript listed "1 to 4 students" for current capacity and projected increases of "2 to 5 depending on the program"); those figures were described verbally and should be verified with the feasibility materials.

Next steps: the feasibility study will be finalized at the Oct. 21 JOC meeting; district business managers and school boards will need to review financing scenarios and potential bond phasing before a formal bond or construction decision.