Jordan Beck | Daily Press From left, Charlie Zuidema, Kyle Johnsen, Joshua Dunlap, and Hunter Garling of Borman Landscaping plant an oak tree at Bay College’s courtyard last week.

ESCANABA — Major changes to Bay College’s courtyard — the final element of a multi-year renovation and construction project at the college — are nearly complete, Vice President of Operations Christine Williams said.

Williams said trees and shrubs were planted in the courtyard last week.

Other plants will be planted in the courtyard on Tuesday, June 5.

“We are planting flowers, ferns, sedges … (and) grasses,” she said.

The plants that are being put in the courtyard were chosen deliberately, Williams said.

“All of these plantings are native plants, so it’s a learning environment,” she said.

According to Williams, the college’s main goals for the redesigned courtyard are to make it a place where people can learn and to make it more usable.

“There’s lots of places for students to just be in this courtyard,” Williams said of the latter goal. She noted the courtyard features spaces students can use to study, relax, and socialize — including two large, circular concrete pads that can accommodate groups of people.

Williams said furniture has been installed in the courtyard, and some tables in the courtyard will be covered by “solar umbrellas.” These umbrellas are equipped with solar panels; energy collected by these panels will be used to power a “hub” that people in the courtyard can plug USB devices into.

According to Williams, one of these umbrellas was purchased by Bay’s faculty as a donation to the courtyard project.

Before the project began, the courtyard featured a large medicine wheel.

“The medicine wheel was a part of the courtyard previously, and we are intending for it to be a part again,” Bay College Library Director Oscar DeLong said.

To this end, the college is going through the process of having a new medicine wheel (which will be located near the entrance to the courtyard from the Catherine Bonifas Building parking lot) blessed by members of the Hannahville Indian Community. DeLong said the college is hoping to have an official blessing take place in September.

Though the medicine wheel is a common symbol in Native American cultures, DeLong said different groups view it differently. He has been working with the Hannahville Indian Community to ensure Bay’s medicine wheel aligns with their version of the symbol.

“We want to make sure that we respect the symbolism and the importance of the medicine wheel in their culture,” DeLong said.

Currently, the college is planning to create a “living medicine wheel” in the courtyard.

“The idea is that what’s left in the open spaces are going to be plants,” DeLong said, noting the college is trying to find native plants that have symbolic meaning to the Hannahville Indian Community to grow in these spaces.

A veterans memorial will also be featured in the finished courtyard.

“It’s a beautiful … black granite veterans memorial with the six service medallions,” Williams said of this addition.

The memorial will likely be installed in August.

“We’ll have a dedication in September,” Williams said.

Eventually, a large sculpture will be placed near the center of the courtyard, as well.

“That’s being designed right now,” Williams said.

The college has put a request for proposal out for designs for the sculpture; this will remain open for bids through June 21. Among other requirements, proposed sculpture designs must include an interactive element.

Later, a committee of college staff members, faculty members, and students will decide which of the submitted designs should be used.

In April 2016, construction began on Bay’s Hub project. With the completion of the courtyard, the project this work was a part of will officially end.

“The courtyard project is the culmination of the Hub project,” Williams said. In addition to the courtyard and the Hub, this project has included work on the Math and Science Building and the Bay College Library.

Williams said the redesigned courtyard is meant to serve as an outdoor extension of the Hub.

“They were designed to kind of be together,” she said.

A ceremony in honor of the courtyard’s completion has been set for later this year.

“We’ll have a big dedication for the courtyard in September … after the students return,” Williams said.