Dedication Service of the Academic Center

Today was a special day on the ILC campus. While normal activities included the opening service and meetings, the new Academic Center was dedicated to the use of God's kingdom work. This service was held at the entrance of the new building as thoughts also centered on the 50th anniversary of the school. After the service, a flag raising ceremony was held as the flag pole and flag were donated by former students and friends in memory of Micah Gurgel. Family members participated in the raising of the flag and as soon as it was in position the assembly joined in the pledge of allegiance. Afterward the architect of the Academic Center presented a special plaque in honor of the project. While the entire event was brief, it was touching as many were amazed at the hand of the Lord in accomplishing this momentous project.

Meanwhile activity flourished on the campus as the new school year brought a larger enrollment over last year with a total of 140 students, 115 which are in high school. The new freshman class is one of the largest in recent history with 35 students. As we think about the future of our church body, it is obvious that this new facility will be of beneficial use in serving these young souls.

May the Lord enable us to use this building to His glory as He keeps us steadfast in His Word. Psalm127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; ...



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Dedication Service Planned

DEDICATION: On August 24, the opening day of Immanuel Lutheran College will see a service of dedication for the new academic center. The first portion of the service will take place at 10:00 am in the field house. From there the congregation will go to the academic center for prayers, thanksgiving, and the dedication of the building and of those who use it. You are invited to join us on this happy occasion and see for yourselves the blessings of the Lord.
- President, John Pfeiffer

ILC President Reports

The move from Reim Hall to the Academic Center has been accomplished. Students, faculty, staff, and friends pitched in to assist in the preparations and the move. It went smoothly and almost everything is in place. The move occurred on Monday and Tuesday marked the first day of classes in the AC. We thank our Lord for this wonderful gift. We thank the building committee for the many hours of work that they gave and are still giving to this project. We thank the volunteers and the movers who helped prepare the building and carry out the occupancy. We thank the members of the CLC, whose gifts have helped to make this possible. --- May the Lord bless the labors that are performed as the construction of phase two begins. Hopefully, by the time of pastoral conference, we will all be able to gaze upon this gift of the Lord in its completed form.

John K Pfeiffer

It's Now in Use!!!

After years of discussion and planning, the new Academic Center is in use! Following chapel today, the kids moved all the necessary equipment into the new building. We thank them and all the volunteers who have helped out in making the move a reality. The campus is filled with excitement as ILC now has taken another step.

The following pics show the last day of classes in Reim Hall and the setup of the classrooms in the new Academic Center:



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Update from Building Committee

There was a progress meeting with Market and Johnson this past Friday (Dec. 5) regarding the building. Here are some notes:

• Completion date for Phase 1 is February 13, 2009
• Phase 1 to be sheeted (roof and walls) by December 12
• Shingle crew to complete work the week of Dec. 15
• All 50 geothermal system wells have been dug
• Building dried-in and temp-heated prior to Christmas
• Trim changed to oak in many areas of Phase 2 due to donation of materials from CLC member in Markesan area
• Stained glass representations of Luther’s Seal and ILC Logo for gable ends of west elevation are being constructed off-site. Cost of materials only not to exceed $5K. M&J will construct gable framing and lighting at no additional cost.
• Tentative completion date for Phase 2 is May 1

Update from Building Committee

ILC Building Committee Chairman, Pastor Michael Roehl reports:

• All bids are now in and have been awarded.
• Original estimate was $2.4 M plus architect's fees, which we originally estimated at $100-150 K.
• We have added the geothermal system, masonry storm shelter room, and somenecessary campus infrastructure items (primarily storm water management andretention pond)
• Final GMP has been set at $2.67M, although we anticipate that number will golower as construction proceeds
• A low interest construction loan is being secured from Wells Fargo Bank atapproximately 5.25% This line of credit may or may not be utilized.
• Revised estimates call for Phase One to be completed Jan-Feb of 2009 and full project completion May-June of 2009

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Brush Clearing

Now that the loggers have come and gone, the contractors have been authorized to proceed with site clearing. Today equipment moved in to start the work! You may follow along with the progress from the web cams which are shown live by scrolling down to the bottom of this blog.
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Bidding Update

From ILC Building Chairman, Pastor Michael Roehl: The bid process has been extended one week to allow for additional bids. We now anticipate final numbers on September 24th, with work to commence the week of the 29th if total project costs are in-line with expectations. The ILC Building Committee thanks the CLC membership for its patience while we work to make sure that we get the most building possible as economically as possible.

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Project Benefits Other ILC Campus Issues

From Site Manager, Tom Beekman:

Like the Commons/Dining Hall project, every effort is being made to pick up 'freebies' for other longstanding issues on campus thru the use of contractors who may be on site for the actual building project. The tree removal is one example of that on the AC project. Others items we are hoping to get 'free' benefits from in the future are:

• Using the expansion of the retention/detention basin area by the lower softball fields as a source of borrow (fill) material for the AC project. Significant savings by not having to truck in borrow from off site and significantly improves the retention area.
• Disposing of concrete materials from the building demolition off the left field edge of the baseball field. We will dig a hole and bury the concrete at this location and use it to extended the playing area of left field on the baseball field. Significant savings because we don't have to pay for construction material disposal at a public landfill and a better baseball field.
• Consolidation of some older sanitary sewer and storm sewer lines into one required for the AC project. We strategically located some of the AC utility work to allow it to upgrade some existing lines on campus. This can be done at no extra cost to the AC project since the work has to occur anyway, and we clean up some old stuff at the same time.
  

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Logging Completed

This past week the logging necessary for the Academic Center (AC) was completed. The loggers did the work for the value of the logs. The loggers are part of a firm that owns a lumber mill. So whatever they cut is going directly to their own mill.

In addition, ILC has used the opportunity of having loggers on site to take out a number of other trees whose removal was not required for the AC building itself. These trees are also being removed at no cost to ILC and what would be their annual operating budget.

So not only are we saving $5K-$10K on the AC by not including this as part of the bid package, ILC (and thus the CLC) is saving perhaps another $1-$5K on general tree removal expenses on campus.

Bidding Update

Bids for the new Academic Center at ILC are now due on Sept. 15. The Building Committee hopes to award on Sept. 17. The contract calls for the work to begin on Sept. 22. Pray for favorable bids.


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Ground Is Broken!

Today a groundbreaking service was held at the site of the new Academic Center following the ILC opening service. President John Pfeiffer referred to the new building project in his opening service sermon and ILC Regent, Pastor Ted Barthels, had some comments reminding us of the Lord's hand at work in making this project possible. Following the opening service a crowd gathered at the building site, in front of the soon-to-be-demolished Cottage. It is here that ground was broken after ILC Building Project chairman, Pastor Michael Roehl, gave approval for the project to begin. Also present were the architect, Jayme Bowe; ILC Regent, Dave Aymond; ILC President, Prof. John Pfeiffer; and ILC Facilities Manager, Luther Sieg.


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Eau Claire Leader-Telegram Article

Today there was a story in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram about our project. Check it out at:
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-ros.asp?id=BH5H7QU0E2N

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Convention Action

Today the CLC Convention gave approval for the go ahead with the Academic Center Project by adopting the following:
That we finance this project immediately following this Convention and begin building the Academic/Administration Center with the goal to break ground in September.

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