By Spencer Bates

Renovations on the soon-to-be state of the art home for the School of Communication, Media and the Arts, Hewitt Hall, have seen outstanding progress.

With the demolition of walls, lighting, electrical and mechanical systems all finished, overall demolition of the interior of the building is nearly complete. According to director of major projects, Allen Bradbury, the floor plan is next on the docket as the first phase of the project nears its completion.

“It’s phase one of two and they will do windows and the exterior, do the envelope, do the site work and do some of the interior,” Bradbury said. “But phase two is really where we start to reset the floor plan and get back to the reprogramming of the spaces.”

Other smaller exterior demolition projects have been completed as well such as the destruction of some walls, overgrown plants and walkways. Early winter weather also provided construction crews with the ability to build a new drainage system at the site in the south courtyard.

For Cara Thompson, an associate professor of art and design, the progress that has been made has been staggering. So much so that visualizing the end product is simple.

“I’ve been in this building for years and years and years and walking this today is completely a new experience,” Thompson said. “I’m walking through trying to envision the blueprints in here and it’s super exciting to see this moving along as fast as it is.”

According to Thompson, some of the aspects that students and faculty can look forward to seeing in the state of the art facility range from everyday classrooms to more intimate settings like advanced design studios and a virtual reality lab.

Students are looking forward to the facility as it will provide them with not only the ability to work with cutting edge technology, but also for the fact that it will allow for more cohesion and connection between students in different complementing majors. Melinda Brancato, a freshman personal relations major, believes the site will only benefit academics in the future.

“To take graphic design and utilize that with other broadcasting majors see how they might need it within their broadcasts, and even being among journalism majors as a PR major, it’s going to be very beneficial,” Brancato said. “It’s very jaw dropping. It’s a very big building and they have a lot of great plans up ahead. I’m so excited to see it come to fruition. It’s going to be great.”

As spring brings warmer weather, the installation of materials like the materials for the building’s new roof, curtain wall windows, exterior concrete panels and structural steel will be completed as excitement mounts for all those involved. 

Kailee Montross | The Oswegonian