Campus improvements include new residence hall

Completion of a new residence hall and the renovation of the DeWitt Physical Fitness Center top the list of improvements made to Northwestern College’s campus this summer.

North Suites, a residence hall for men opened this fall, is a three-story, 23,000-square-foot dorm built for $3.5 million. It houses 68 students in 17 suites—each with its own bathroom—and includes numerous community areas, including a main floor lobby with adjoining full kitchen. The new building will be dedicated at 10:45 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, the day before Northwestern’s Homecoming.

A dedication of the renovated fitness center is also scheduled for Sept. 30. An open house will begin at 4 p.m., with the ceremony starting at 4:30. The $1.5 million summer project added windows to the four-court area of the Rowenhorst Student Center, along with new flooring, lighting, and an updated heating system. New netting will help isolate activity on the courts from the track that circles the perimeter of the fitness center.

Another major improvement still under way is the renovation of the soccer field complex, a cooperative project funded by Northwestern, the city of Orange City, and the public schools. Crews installed a new drainage system, added irrigation to the practice field, and leveled and reseeded both the competition and practice fields. Also to be added are a new scoreboard, lighting, fencing and press box.

Other projects included the construction of a new translation and interpretation lab for the foreign language department; the installation of air conditioning in the Bultman Center locker rooms; replacement of the boiler in Hospers Hall; painting dorm rooms in Colenbrander Hall and one of the Courtyard Village apartment buildings; re-roofing part of Van Peursem Hall; pouring a new main campus sidewalk; and recarpeting several VPH offices and classrooms.