Northern State University broke ground on the Business and Health Innovation Center during a ceremony on campus Thursday, April 25.
The event drew about 100 people, including university, business and community leaders and state legislators.
Before work on the new building can begin, Lincoln and Briscoe halls will have to be razed. That work is expected to be done this summer.
Northern State President Neal Schnoor spoke about the history of Lincoln Hall, a stately building that was built in 1917. It is a World War I era dormitory building that has been reconfigured into offices and classrooms, he said.
Schnoor said the building is supported by 29 large columns. No amount of money could help modify Lincoln Hall for the business and health center and bring it up to modern standards, he said.
MORE:Â Regents approve construction plan for NSU Business and Health Innovation Center
As he spoke, Schnoor thanked the many people and groups who have helped the project, including Dacotah Bank, which, he said, has contributed $1.8 million to the job.
The project’s overall cost is north of $30 million.
Lincoln Hall is named after Isaac Lincoln, an Aberdeen banker and state senator in the early 1900s who has been referred to as the father of Northern Normal and Industrial School, which is now Northern State.
His grandson, Mike McHugh, a local craftsman, is making a wooden executive table for the new building’s conference room, Schnoor said.
Northern’s new nursing program will be based in the Business and Health Innovation Center. Schnoor said it will build on the foundation of health care established by the Presentation Sisters, who founded Avera St. Luke’s Hospital in Aberdeen.
The new building is slated for completion in late 2025. It will include facilities for business, banking, finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, nursing and social learning. It will also be home to the Innovation and Startup Center.
Scott Waltman is a longtime South Dakota journalist and the managing editor of The Aberdeen Insider.