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The North Wind

The North Wind

The North Wind

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Chloe Everson
Chloe Everson
Sports Editor

Hi! My name is Chloe and I am a fourth-year senior here at NMU. I am a Public Relations major and have always enjoyed sports. I love being outdoors, shopping, and drinking coffee at all hours of the...

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The North Wind is an independent student publication serving the Northern Michigan University community. It is partially funded by the Student Activity Fee. The North Wind digital paper is published daily during the fall and winter semesters except on university holidays and during exam weeks. The North Wind Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the student body, faculty, administration and area media.

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Dorm lobbies receive renovations

Though the residence halls of Quad II have been emptied of their usual student population, they are still bustling with activity as contractors work to complete renovations in the lobbies of Hunt and VanAntwerp Halls as well as Magers and Meyland Halls.

“Everything has been gutted right to the walls,” said Carl Holm, director of Housing and Residence Life. “Everything is being replaced with new bathrooms, new desks, new ceilings, new floors, new electrical service, new water service, new heating, new air conditioning.”

The renovations are expected to cost between $1.4-1.7 million, Holm said, adding that the funds were derived from bonds sold by the university.

The Hunt/VanAntwerp lobby was constructed in 1968 and has had little renovation updating work done in its 41 years. The Magers/Meyland lobby hasn’t been updated in 20 years.

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The renovation work began on Tuesday, May 5 with an expected finishing date of Aug. 3. The general contractor hired for the project is Gundlach Champion.

“They’ve done a remarkable job renovating residence halls, which is a substantially long project,” Holm said.

Gundlach Champion is the same company which was hired last summer to complete renovations to Meyland and VanAntwerp Halls. The 2008 renovations allowed both buildings to receive designations of “certified” and “silver,” respectively, through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Meyland and VanAntwerp are two of eight residence halls nationwide that can claim such a status.

“They’ve done a lot of work on campus before,” said Kathy Richards, associate vice president of Engineering and Planning. “They’ve done a great job.”

Along with the lobby renovations, the university is replacing 10 individual apartment boilers on Lincoln Avenue as well as boilers that service the Norwood and Center Street apartments.

“In both these cases, we expect not only to improve service, but some savings will be derived in utilities,” Holm said.

Work on the boilers has not yet begun, Richards said, adding that she will be sending the project out for bids soon.

The Lincoln Avenue boilers will be the second set of 10 to be replaced within the last year.

The university is also replacing sewer lines in the area of Summit and Center Streets.

All projects are slated for completion before the start of the academic school year.

“We’re very busy,” Holm said. “In the end, probably the only thing that will be obvious will be the two lobby renovations . but we’re doing a number of things.”

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