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DETROIT (WJBK) - They broke ground last year on the Mike Ilitch school of business and now it's almost finished. The state-of-the art building is right next to the new arena and it's a key piece of the Ilitch family's vision for Detroit's rebirth.
Students won't walk the halls until the spring semester, but we're getting an exclusive first look.
What did college look like for you? Bet it didn't look like this. A view of the Little Caesars Arena, the streetcar and bars and restaurants. A vibrant, bustling downtown now with another feather to its cap.
These hard hats will soon turn into thinking caps for 4,000 students, but first, the finishing touches.
"We have mechanical, electrical, plumbing," said Jennifer Emerick of Christman Construction. "We have all of these trades everywhere working on the above ceiling and walls. We have drywall going on in the fourth floor, third floor getting to ready to start on the first floor so things are really moving along for us."
For the woman leading construction on the new $59 million Mike Ilitch School of Business its crunch time. It's the first time a piece of Wayne State's Campus will be a part of downtown. A city that's changing.
"Everywhere you look there's construction, there's people everywhere now," said Emerick. "I've been working in the city for a long time so to see this, is very inspiring to me."
Renderings Show off what the school will look like. Fox 2 got a sneak peek at the work being done now. The lecture hall, the concrete poured and dried. The inside is taking shape, quickly.
The entire building will be wrapped with a lot of glass.
"Glass wraps around most the building," Emerick said. "Especially the Woodward side looking right downtown. There are classrooms that if I was in school, I don't know how I wouldn't just be staring out the window all day long it's just so cool."
"It's a challenge and we have to be entertaining as instructors too," said Scott Tainsky, a professor for the school. "It's going to be a challenge to compete with the beautiful surroundings and we all have to up our game. "
There's also a whole new concentration being introduced called sport and entertainment management. Something the Ilitches know something about.
"A student can come here in the sports and entertainment concentration," Tainsky said. "Learn in this beautiful new building, cross the street and do their internship and interact with the leaders in this industry."