State officials are keeping their lips sealed about where the new Bank of North Dakota will be constructed, but they will hold a public forum before the site is selected.

On Thursday, the Industrial Commission selected an architectural and engineering team for the bank, which is currently located at 700 E. Main Ave., and gave a September timeline for selecting a site.

The Industrial Commission, comprised of Gov. John Hoeven, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agricultural Commissioner Roger Johnson, has closed its doors to the media and the public during discussions of a bank location, citing a law that allows the meeting to be closed when officials are considering a negotiating strategy.

During the open part of Thursday's meeting, the commission approved a motion to allow BND President Eric Hardmeyer to begin negotiating architect and engineering services for the design of the new bank with Ritterbrush-Ellig-Hulsing, P.C., Architects, Planners of Bismarck and HDR Architecture Inc., of Chicago.

The motion allows Hardmeyer to negotiate a price with the companies, but if the price is not agreeable to the bank, negotiations can be held with the company next on a list that a selection team submitted.

The architect will be involved in the site selection and public forum.

Hardmeyer said a public forum will be held in the first part of August, and a final decision on site selection will be made by the end of September.

Hardmeyer said the public forum will consist of a two-hour meeting in the bank with bank officials, the architect and interested citizens.

Although officials have previously stated a preference for locating the bank in downtown Bismarck, Hardmeyer didn't rule out other locations, including Mandan.

Johnson asked Hardmeyer if consideration will be given to locations in Bismarck and Mandan, and Hardmeyer said "yes."

Hardmeyer said factors influencing site selection include the makeup of the soil, environmental issues and traffic patterns.

Stenehjem said he would like to have alternatives to choose from, which could mean differences in costs.

"I don't want it to be a take-it-or-leave-it proposition," Stenehjem said. "Obviously, one of our main considerations will be, what are we going to get for what we have to pay?"

Hoeven said having a public forum is important to the process.

"The key is that you have an open and thorough process," Hoeven said.

The Legislature approved spending $11 million on a new bank earlier this year.

Created in 1919, the Bank of North Dakota is the only state-owned bank in the nation. The bank is currently housed in two structures - a four-story tower built in 1917 and an annex that was built in 1967. The tower was originally built as an automobile assembly plant, but the bank moved in two years later. The annex was a former grocery store that was purchased by the bank in 1989 and remodeled to house the student loan division.

Hardmeyer told legislators earlier this year that a new building is needed because the bank has few windows, contains asbestos, mold and lead paint, and does not meet fire codes.

(Reach reporter Tom Rafferty at 223-8482 or tom.rafferty@bismarcktribune.com.)