Published: October 7, 2016 |

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The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology on Tuesday unveiled a plan to build a $20 million research facility in east downtown Rapid City on land that was home to the Imperial Hotel and which reportedly has been donated to the school by the landowner.

School of Mines President Heather Wilson shared her proposal with the Board of Regents during its meeting on Tuesday. The Mines proposal was part of a $113 million package of projects that four state colleges have offered as a way to expand the amount and level of research being done on South Dakota campuses.

The proposed Rapid City facility — dubbed the South Dakota Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing — would be built on the former Imperial Hotel site on the north side of St. Joseph Street between First and Second streets. Wilson told the Regents that the hotel site was valued at around $3 million.

Wilson told the Journal on Tuesday that she expects the material research center could create hundreds of jobs for Mines students. So far, there is no money earmarked for the project, but Wilson said a proposal to lawmakers is being drawn up, and Gov. Dennis Daugaard has signaled a need for more research in South Dakota.

Wilson said property owner Ray Hillenbrand — who could not be reached for comment Tuesday — donated the Imperial Hotel site to the School of Mines under the condition that it be used for research. At 60,000 square feet, the property covers half a city block and provides plenty of space for the proposed 42,000-square-foot research facility, Wilson said.

Such a large facility is needed, Wilson added, because the School of Mines faces a shortage of space for future growth.

“I think that we can do more, but we can’t do more in the facilities that we’re begging, borrowing and renting from other people,” she said.

The proposed institute is one of four concepts generated by School of Mines staff for Wilson’s consideration. What made the institute stand out is that the School of Mines has dozens of industrial partners in the private and public sectors interested in research on advanced materials and manufacturing, Wilson said.

Once built, Wilson expects the institute would create 200 high-paying jobs in the industry by 2025, and add an estimated $15 million in new materials-related research being conducted at the School of Mines. She also projected the project would lead to a doubling in enrollment of current graduate students in Ph.D. programs related to materials and manufacturing.

The School of Mines typically serves as the incubator for several startup companies every year. Research in the new facility would allow the school to create at least five more new startup firms within five years time, Wilson said.

The new facility would house the school’s composites and polymer engineering lab, the advanced materials processing lab, the additive manufacturing lab, the product development and innovation office, the direct write and security printing technologies lab, the surface engineering lab and the specialized machining and electrical shops.

The project is reliant on funding from the Board of Regents and the state legislature. If it makes it into the governor’s budget, a program plan and designs could be drawn up between June and December 2017. Construction would likely begin in the spring of 2018 and could wrap up in fall 2019.

“I think it can have a transformative effect on South Dakota,” Wilson said.

Source: (October 5, 2016) Rapid City Journal

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