Lakeland’s $3.2 million construction project that started in April essentially finished this week when the front entrance and Sesquicentennial Plaza opened, just in time for Homecoming.
Jess Lambrecht, Lakeland’s assistant director of career development, was one of the first people to drive into campus through the new entrance after it opened Tuesday morning.
“It’s overall very beautiful. It definitely makes the campus feel a little bit more collegial in nature. We’re all very excited about this weekend and seeing the finished product,” she said.
Arden Shumaker, a 1964 Lakeland graduate who has worked for the National Education Association in Washington D.C., drove in through the new entrance later in the day.
“I stopped by to see what the new improvements were. I’m very impressed by the entranceway—it’s very fine work, and it puts a great emphasis on Old Main. I remember many a time walking down that stairway on the way out,” he said.
Sesquicentennial Plaza, the area in front of Old Main, was still fenced off Wednesday at press time, but Manager of Groundskeeping Operations Joe Beniger, who has overseen the construction project with Director of Facilities Management and Planning Rich Haen, said the plaza should open today.
When he was interviewed Tuesday, Beniger said that the construction workers should complete their remaining work – planting trees, seeding grass, and putting down asphalt on Prof. and Reineking Drives – by the end of the week.
“Overall, with all the issues we had with the weather, it turned out pretty good,” said Beniger. “We had a lot of delays, a lot of setbacks, rain at the wrong time; that sort of thing. But all the subcontractors pulled through. We disturbed a lot of ground here and we inconvenienced a lot of people, but it worked out.”
Vice President for Administration Dan Eck, who has managed the project since it started, commented on its completion.
“We really wanted to get the project done this fall,” said Eck. “We wanted to get it done before Homecoming, because that’s one of our big events when alumni come back. We also wanted it to get done this fall so [that] all the landscaping will be able to grow in by next spring. By the time we have our all-campus reunion next June for our sesquicentennial celebration, it’s really going to have taken hold. That will be a time when we might have a couple thousand alumni coming back to see this.”
Eck added that when trees around Old Main were removed it was obvious the building needed some “touch up work” on its roof, bricks, and on the west portico to keep them from deteriorating. He expects those jobs to be done later this fall or in the spring.
Chaplain Kelly Stone will lead a dedication ceremony for the plaza and the entrance Saturday at 10 a.m. at Sesquicentennial Plaza. Lakeland singers will provide music, and students, alumni, and President Stephen Gould will reflect on the project’s significance for the college.
“The real point of the dedication is to be a moment when the college community—that includes our students, the friends of the college, and the donors who have made the project possible—are able to gather and acknowledge the opening of a new entrance and a new space for the college community,” said Stone.
Lakeland engraved the bricks that make up the plaza in honor of those who donated to the project. Stone said that while all are welcome to attend the ceremony, she believes many of those in attendance will be donors.
“The plaza is meant to be a place where generations of students can gather. I think what we’ll see there are friends of the college who gave to the space and are there because they believe in Lakeland College and its legacy,” she said.