Construction on the classical education building continues. Ellie Fromm | Collegian
As construction on Hillsdale College’s classical education building approaches the one-year anniversary, one thing is for sure: Weigand Construction’s superintendent is not a fan of working in the cold weather.
“It’s terrible,” Beck said. “There’s nothing worse.”
In March of last year, Weigand, a construction company out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, broke ground on the Diana Davis Spencer Graduate School of Classical Education, employing approximately 11 men daily on the site, and a total of 50 people, which includes subcontractors, according to Beck.
The crew works through the Michigan weather conditions, from warm, sunny summer days to the below-freezing, dark winter ones. According to crewmen, working through southern Michigan’s winter provides setbacks, such as delaying concrete footing pourings due to freezing temperatures, but they are used to it. The biggest setback the crew faces with the cold is pouring concrete, as it cannot be poured once the ground freezes.
Beck has worked on the new buildings on Hillsdale’s campus for three and a half years — his time split between his trailer office and the construction site. He worked on projects including the Marilyn J. Sohn Women’s Residence, the Sajak Visual Media Center, and Hillsdale Academy’s expansion.
“The winters haven’t been too bad recently, the last three or four. I think last year we poured the academy concrete in January,” Beck said. “Now it snowed in February, the whole month of February, pretty hard. That wasn’t too bad of a winter, though.”
The new graduate school building is the first time he has worked on a project on Hillsdale’s main campus while students are present.
“There’s a lot more prep for us,” Beck said. “More safety factors around here, having to get the gate and the fence and everything, and tape it all off and make sure the kids stay safe, to keep people out of our construction area.”
Foreman Jack Mattson has worked on Hillsdale buildings for more than 12 years. He worked on Christ Chapel, the George Roche Sports Complex, the Lenda and Glenda Hill Stadium and TFO Partners Field, student housing, and Hayden Park’s outdoor stadium and track. Mattson said this is a medium-sized building for the company, and more like what they usually build, as opposed to the chapel, which was unique for them and required extra training and expertise.
“What was challenging about the chapel was all the intricate stonework, everything from the basement, the footings, all the concrete to the stonework and finishes inside,” Mattson said. “Obviously, when you go inside, it’s just challenging. We had different training for simple things you wouldn’t think about, like setting the stone.”
Mattson grew up in the Hillsdale area and moved away in his young adulthood.
“All these buildings have been done since then,” Mattson said. “That was the late ’70s, early ’80s, so the campus was kind of right here, with a few of the houses that are sororities and things like that. Now, Hillsdale College isn’t Hillsdale anymore.”
Working in the middle of campus during the academic calendar is not much of an inconvenience for the crews, according to Mattson.
“We kind of keep things fenced off and everything,” Mattson said. “Other than our gate guy, who’s absolutely famous, we don’t have much interaction or anything with the students. We try to get the job done.”
According to Mattson, the men who work for Weigand Construction, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, are accustomed to the conditions of the cold and the setbacks that come with the weather. He drives about an hour to work in Hillsdale every weekday.
“We get the same cold [in Indiana],” he said. “Over the years, this is kind of what we do. It can be brutal, it can be cold.”
Derald Anderson, a carpenter foreman, has worked on Hillsdale’s building expansion for more than three years. His job is mainly doors, trim, and hardware. He has worked on Marilyn J. Sohn Women’s Residence, the Sajak Visual Media Center, and Hillsdale Academy’s expansion.
“If I stay home when it’s cold it’s not that bad,” Anderson said jokingly. “Honestly, it hasn’t been too bad. We’ve had cold days where all we want to do is hunker down and try to stay warm. But, Jack [Mattson] will tell you the heat is always in the tools.”
