Since the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, Sorensen Hall has been under construction, with multiple contractors working to repair and update the building.

Despite possible concerns that the construction would disrupt classes, Chris Heller, a part-time instructor of Accounting at Augustana, said the construction hasn’t impacted the quality of any of his classes, all of which are taught in Sorensen.

“You can’t hear the pounding or anything, so it hasn’t really affected my classes at all,” Heller said. “The only thing that’s really affected me, I had to walk off onto the street a few times to enter, or now, I have to go around to the back of the building, but it doesn’t bother me. It’s short term.”

The initial aim of the construction was to fix the deteriorating base of the building, but as repairs started, the project expanded to fixing the sidewalk around Sorensen, as well as redoing some of the old brickwork and changing the color of the building. 

Although construction started on Sept. 1, plans for construction have been in the works since the summer. Bob Lanzerotti, director of facilities at Augustana, anticipates that the construction will be finished by Feb. 2023.

“A lot of people call it a facelift but it’s really been a challenge because of what we call unforeseen circumstances,” Lanzerotti said. “There were a lot of different materials used to build the building originally, so now we’re coming up with solutions as to how we’re going to adhere the new panels to the older materials.”

Since the building’s construction in 1898, there have been several additions and changes to its exterior. It has largely remained the same since 1977, when the elevated crosswalk was constructed above 38th St. and 7th Ave.

Kirk Anderson, Augustana’s chief financial officer and vice president of administration, said that one of the reasons that the administration felt it was important to update the building is not just because of the deterioration, but also because Sorensen Hall is one of the most outer-facing buildings on campus.

“It’s one of the first things that they see,” Anderson said. “Knowing that it is one of the first impressions a family or a student has on Augustana, we felt that it was important that it looked like it was a nice facility. We want them to have a good first impression of Augustana.”

Lanzerotti believes that the construction will help provide a good first impression.

“I cannot wait for this project to be done,” Lanzerotti said. “Not because I have other projects to do, but because I really think that this is going to be a staple, similar to Lindberg.