MARQUETTE - While the students are away the building trades will… work.

Over the last few summers on the Northern Michigan University campus, building trades workers have been part of the routine of gutting and renovating one of the university's Quad II complex residence halls.

This year's target is 65,000 square-foot Hunt Hall, which is undergoing an $8 million renovation, led by Closner Construction, Dressler Mechanical and S & T Electrical.

"The building is more or less being gutted," said Brandon Sager, owner's representative for NMU. "The project is going well, and we're even just a little ahead of schedule. This is the fourth one, so everyone pretty well has the sequence down pat."

In recent years the residence hall renovation work has included Magers Hall (completed in 2005), Meyland Hall (2006) and Van Antwerp Hall (2007). The halls are similar in size and were each built in the early 1960s.

The renovated Hunt hall will get a new slightly pitched roof (replacing a flat roof) and all new interior finishes, doors and windows, as well as new electrical and mechanical systems. A new elevator will be added. Three-story additions will be added to house sunrooms at the three main entrances. The project is averaging 80 to 120 construction workers, toiling on two shifts. The job began on May 7 when the student-residents went home, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 1.

LEVELING A DRAIN in a dorm room at NMU's Hunt Hall is Todd Diedrich of Plumbers & Fitters Local 111 and Dressler Mechanical. Photo by Jack Deo