Remodel of Chester Fritz Library advances

By Andrew Weeks

GRAND FORKS, N.D. • Work on the Chester Fritz Library on the University of North Dakota campus is coming along well, according to Mike Dunn, business development manager for Construction Engineers.

“The interior is coming together very nicely and the final finishes are starting,” he said in early September.

The library, a $17 million remodel project that includes around 70,000 square-feet, will have a courtyard-type entry front located off University Avenue, he said, “which will be a more inviting and welcoming space into the main entrance, which has been converted to a three-story atrium.”

A new entry also will be located on the south side of the building.

Some of the challenges have been doing the work while the building remains open and occupied. As such, the project necessitated a number of phases.

“I mean, a dozen or more phases,” Dunn said, “but it’s moving right along and is definitely a huge transformation.”

He said something else happening at UND is the installation of new windows.

“We’re currently re-windowing, putting in a new, upgraded aluminum window system,” he said. “That’s going to be something you’ll see throughout campus.”

Construction Engineers also finished the Fox Hills Elementary School in Watford City, N.D., which opened to students on Sept. 8.

The $37 million, 90-square-foot building that sits on 30 acres will hold about 600 students. In early September, finalization on furniture was taking place as well as landscaping, parking and playground equipment.