News Photo by Julie Goldberg The Alpena Community College Board of Trustees meets Wednesday. Trustees were updated on the Van Lare Hall renovation project.

ALPENA — The Van Lare Hall renovation project at Alpena Community College recently took a big step toward becoming a reality.

On Wednesday, ACC President Don MacMaster told the college Board of Trustees that the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget approved the 400-level design documents last Friday.

A 400-level design is a progress report that is provided to the state that shows the college’s plans right now, explains what the college’s design is and what the college will use in that design, College Facilities Director Nick Brege said. The 400-level design also includes some details about what the finished design will look like.

“They look at that, compare it to our original proposal, make sure we’re still on scope with it, and they look at our budget to make sure that we’re still on budget and, if everything looks good, then they approve us for the next step,” Brege said.

In the next step, the 500-level design, the college will develop a set of blueprints for the building and start getting bids for construction, Brege said. He said that process will take until March, when they will work on the construction documents and then get those finalized and approved. After that is completed, the proposal will be submitted to the state.

Brege hopes for a fast turnaround with the 500-level design, like the college had on the 400-level design.

“By mid-April, we’re hoping for approval to move forward with construction,” Brege said. “Once the DTMB looks at the 500 and they approve, that means that we can start asking for people to give us proposals on construction and, once we select people who are going to do the construction process, then we can begin.”

Brege said that, optimiscally, early- to mid-summer is when the project will begin.

The renovation to Van Lare Hall will provide space and updated technology for the college’s nursing program, a centralized student support services area, a community gathering space, and improvements to windows, heating and cooling, and electrical systems, and the building’s exterior.

MacMaster said the college is excited to continue progress on the renovation. He said the project will benefit nursing students, staff, and the community.

“We think it makes sense to do,” he said. “It’s a very important building for us, there’s a lot of legacy attached, it’s on a beautiful piece of property, and I think we’ll be able to renovate it in a way that’s cost-effective and doable.”

The Board of Trustees in March approved the $8.7 million renovation project to repurpose the hall, according to the college’s website.

The Besser Foundation recently agreed to frontload the first two years of a $600,000, three-year commitment to the project. That move allows ACC to to meet the $3.35 million share of the cash-in-hand required for state funding.

Funding for the project is also coming from the state, college resources, and fundraising efforts by the ACC Foundation.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.