Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) will hold a public groundbreaking ceremony for the new West Hall Innovation Center and a public rededication ceremony for the Shirley S. Okerstrom Fine Arts Building on Monday, September 24.

The West Hall Innovation Center project combines state investments of more than $7 million for renovations and modernizations of the 50-year-old West Hall building with NMC-funded investments of more than $7 million to create a 54,000-square-foot, multi-story library and flexible learning space. The center will incorporate "innovative and transformative learning environments and multiple academic and simulation spaces," according to NMC. 

The Shirley S. Okerstrom Fine Arts Building was the last building in the United States designed by famed Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius in 1969. The college invested in refurbishing the building’s cedar exterior and windows in 2018. “The building projects and the dual celebrations highlight our proud NMC past, as well as our exciting future,” says NMC President Tim Nelson.

Groundbreaking at the West Hall Innovation Center begins at 11:30am, followed by the rededication on the Shirley S. Okerstrom Fine Arts Building at 12:30pm.