It could be May before Bismarck Public Schools sign a lease on land for a new career and vocational education building at Bismarck State College.

The district, with the help of an engineering firm, narrowed possible locations to one across the street from the current building, located at 1200 College Drive. The current lease for career and technical education space expires in 2009. This is in the career and vocation building BSC owns and is across the street from the site the district would like to pursue.

The district was offered three possible sites by BSC. The other sites were knocked out of contention because of size of one and a possible street bisecting the other site.

Now there are concerns with the district's plans for the site meshing with BSC's campus master plan, Superintendent Paul Johnson said. The district's engineering firm and the college's engineering firm will meet in late March to help iron out the issues over the campus master plan.

The district would lease the land from BSC, probably for a 25-year term, and the district would pay for the construction of the building. Similar to the arrangement the district has with BSC, the college would lease space in the building. Leases to share space in both buildings could be drawn up at the same time as the land lease, Johnson said.

Both institutions started talking Thursday about the types of programs that could be put in a new facility and shared. Some ideas included automotive technology, automotive collision, welding and agriculture and horticulture, Johnson said.

"Other possible programming issues are preliminary at this point, until we get a footprint of the building," he said.

The district is looking to construct a 50,000- to 60,000-square-foot building on the land being leased.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)