They're in stage two of three at the moment, and they can see the bright light at the end of the construction tunnel.
Michael Hall, the main building of St. Peter's College (SPC) in Muenster, has been undergoing a large $12 million renovation for over a year now. But with Stage 1 complete, and Stage 2 underway, it's possible to imagine just what the building will look like when the renovations are complete.
Stage 1 of the project was massive. Not only did it involve renovating the entire fourth floor and basement, it also saw the installation of new systems in the building, the replacement of all the windows, and the overhaul of all of the bathrooms. Another huge part of the project was the installation of a new elevator tower and front entrance to the building.
There were some surprises along the way during that stage of the project, admitted Jennifer Fafard, projects and facilities manager for SPC. But none of those surprises had to do with the strength of the structure.
"It's completely solid," she said of Michael Hall. "Some of our construction people have told us they've never seen anything like it."
Which is pretty amazing, seeing as Michael Hall was constructed in 1921.
Some of the modifications made over the years, like the rainwater collection system that was installed at some point and found to be leaking into the basement, did surprise them during Phase 1 of the renovation. But the structure as a whole is sound.
That sound structure can be seen in the thickness of the walls in the basement, and even up to the fourth floor, where the walls are a little thinner, but not much.
The spaces on the top and bottom floors of the building were once dark and dated. They are now bright and completely functional for the 21st century, while keeping the heritage flavour original to the building.
The basement houses, as before, the dining rooms. It also houses some new mechanical rooms, and three brand-new, fully modern science labs.
One of those labs, for example, is set up to do simulations of dissections using computers, so that actual animals aren't needed for students to study their insides.
The fourth floor, meanwhile, is the temporary home for the faculty and staff of the college. It also contains a temporary student lounge, a temporary board room which will eventually become a multi-media classroom, as well as other classrooms.
"We're in our temporary homes now," Fafard said.
They really can't wait, she noted, for the first and second floors of the building to be complete, so they can move into their spaces permanently.
Moving to the fourth floor was a lot of work, Fafard admitted.
"It was like moving from a three-storey house to a condo," she smiled. "But with every move, we're getting more efficient.... And we're down-sizing."
They've realized some efficiencies in their filing, she noted, and have thrown out what they no longer need.
"It's been good for us," she said.
And with some effort, they've been able to fit all the classes into appropriate classrooms, though they are down a few this year due to the renovations.
"We had to do some juggling, but it all works," Fafard noted.
Eventually, the fourth floor, it is hoped, will be the main home of a nursing program at SPC. The space has been designed to accommodate that program's classroom and practical work areas, as well as office space, if it is granted to the college.
Should the nursing program fall through, the areas on the fourth floor will be general classroom spaces, Fafard noted.
There are still a few things that they're working through, to fix kinks that have shown up in Phase 1, Fafard said, but luckily Miner's Construction is still on site and they are working through them together.
Phase 2 of the project involves the renovation of the first and second floors of the building. With all the major systems work already done, this stage is moving rapidly along, Fafard said.
The demolition has now been completed and they are starting duct work on the first floor.
The electrical work has been completed on the first floor, and is moving ahead on the second, and drywall is now going up on the first floor.
"It's moving really smoothly," said Fafard.
This stage of the project is set to be complete by the end of January.
When it's all done, the first floor of the building will be what Fafard likes to call "Student Central." All of the services students at the college will need will be located on this floor - faculty offices, the main office, student services and counsellors, a computer lab and IT office, as well as a large student area in what was previously the front office, computer lab and a large classroom area.
The new student lounge will not only have a television and video games available for students to play in one end, it will also have a pool table, maybe a fooseball area, as well as a quiet place for studying, and the student-run coffee bar, C2, in the other end.
The student area will also open up onto the library, which should improve both the flow into and the visibility of the library in the building, Fafard noted.
"We're trying to draw more students into the library (with this new design)," Fafard said.
The second floor will primarily house the college's administrative offices - the executive suite for the president and vice-president, a financial suite, and a lot of individual, separate offices as well as a joint faculty-staff room and three break-out rooms strategically placed throughout the floor to accommodate small meetings and private conferences.
A large classroom on this floor will remain a classroom, Fafard added.
At the end of January, the final phase of the project will begin - renovating the third floor and landscaping the grounds.
The third floor will be all classrooms, Fafard said.
Though new doors and baseboards are being installed in the renovations, as they move from floor to floor, they are salvaging all the old materials like doors, flooring and baseboards, Fafard noted, and they will be put to use in some way.
