Students to benefit from campus renovations

Northwestern College’s facilities and grounds crew completed a number of campus improvements during the summer months, just in time for the start of fall semester classes, which begin Aug. 25.

Hoogendoorn Construction in Canton, S.D., was hired to create a new chemistry laboratory in Van Peursem Hall. An equipment room and computer classroom were gutted and merged into a lab with new cabinetry, work stations and vacuum pumps. Workers also renovated the chemistry storage room, installing new vented cabinetry, and added a faculty office.

Northwestern’s maintenance staff, meanwhile, remodeled the nursing department facilities in the former Orange City Hospital building. Four patient rooms were converted into a classroom, conference room, and human patient simulator lab.

Other improvements included the installation of a patio and sitting area north of Zwemer Hall that features pavers inset with the cross from the college’s word mark; landscaping around the Northwestern College sign facing Central Avenue; conversion of a parking area east of Hospers Hall into green space; and the addition of new landscaping in front of Hospers.

Funding for the landscaping improvements came through a restricted gift from Leonard and Marjorie Maas of Holland, Mich. The Maas’ donation also paid for a new campus directory sign that was placed south of Zwemer Hall between the visitor parking lot and Highway 10.

Other summer improvements included replacing the boilers in Zwemer Hall, a commercial water heater in the Bultman Center, smoke detectors in Hospers Hall, laundry equipment in West Hall, and concrete in various places on campus. Workers also finished repairs begun last summer on the roof of Christ Chapel.