If Buildings Could Talk... 95 Year-Old Time Capsule Discovered

Location: Moorhead, MN

Brenda Norris discovered that an old building, touched by new construction, can yield an interesting slice of history. Brenda is CPMI’s project manager for Lommen Hall Renovation at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM). In the photo, Brenda is standing between President Edna Szymanski and Daniel Kirk, Vice President for Facilities and Administration.

On Friday, the 13th of August, masons discovered a metal box inside a cavity in a limestone wall where Weld Hall abuts Lommen Hall. The box was placed there in 1915 when Weld was built. Weld is the oldest building on campus and the discovery is especially important because Old Main, built 27 years before Weld, burned in 1930 along with many of the school’s records and documents. For more photos, content descriptions and historic links, click here to go to MSUM’s web page.

CPMI has helped MSUM plan and manage many projects over the past dozen years. Working on building projects requires a unique time perspective. When planning projects, we must bring future events into present focus to avoid short term obsolescence. When making first-cost decisions, we must understand the impact on operating costs for a building that might last, oh, say 95 years or more.