New construction on the campus of Northern Michigan University should enjoy wide support, especially considering the funding for the construction is coming from the person the facility will be named after.

On Saturday, people gathered on campus for the groundbreaking of the Beaumier Alumni Welcome and Heritage Center. Dr. John Beaumier, a 1953 graduate of NMU and for whom the facility is being named, was on hand for the occasion. Beaumier, who was born in Escanaba, is a retired orthopaedic surgeon and former director of Mayo Clinic’s Orthopedic Evaluation United. He donated $1 million toward construction of the facility.

Beaumier is no stranger to NMU. Besides being a Northern graduate, according to NMU’s website, he received NMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1988, has been a member of the NMU Foundation Board since 1999 and served as the national chair for NMU’s first-ever campaign, This Decisive Season. His leadership gift during that campaign established the Beaumier Upper Peninsula Heritage Center at NMU that promotes and preserves the history and culture of the Upper Peninsula. He played football at NMU and was inducted in the Northern Michigan University Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

The new construction, expected to be started today, will add to the existing Gries Hall and will include the space for the U.P. Heritage Center. NMU’s Alumni Offices will be housed there also

This is a good project, consolidating, as it will, all of NMU’s alumni services under one roof. We wish them well.