The Michigan Tech School of Forestry and Wood Products has scheduled groundbreaking ceremonies for its new Center for Ecosystem Sciences Friday, April 23, at 11:00 a.m. at the construction site adjacent to the U. J. Noblet Building on Seventh Avenue in Houghton.
The groundbreaking will be preceded by building tours at 9:00 and 10:00 a.m., which will begin at the main entrance of the Noblet Building.
The expansion will more than double the space available to the School, from 48,000 to 98,000 square feet. It will include the Gene A. Hesterberg Hall, named for the former head of the forestry department. This hall will include a 135-seat auditorium, a large conference room, and a student organizations office, as well as a large atrium featuring four wood columns representing trees.
The second part of the expansion is a new wing to be named Sam Horner Hall.
This hall is made possible by the generous support of Robert and Virginia Horner. Sam's father, William Horner, pioneered the manufacture of hardwood flooring in 1891 at his Reed City plant. Later, with his son Sam, he built the nation's largest hardwood flooring mill in Newberry. The Horner Flooring Company mill was built in Dollar Bay in 1938. The floors in the hallways and offices of Sam Horner Hall will be Horner flooring.
Featured speakers at the ceremony will be State Representative Paul Tesanovich; President Curt Tompkins; Mike Henrickson of Satellite Services in AuTrain; David Holli of Holli Forest Products, Ishpeming; and Gene Hesterberg.
04/16/99-mtn080