As the old Holy Family Orphanage in Marquette is turned into an apartment complex, the construction workers have discovered an audience watching their every move. Residents at the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans have been fascinated by the construction happening next door, with many pulling up their wheelchairs to the windows, and some even watching with binoculars.
After nurses realized how interested the residents were with the project, on Friday afternoon they organized a luncheon between the Premeau Construction workers and Jacobetti veterans to get to know each other and discuss the project.
“When you’re over at the orphanage working, you look out, and you’ll see the veterans sitting out there in their chairs watching you, and it’s pretty cool,” said Steve Burke, a carpenter working on apartment complex. “There’s a couple you see all the time. They’re always watching. When it’s nice out and they can be outside, they are even outside on the sidewalk watching.”
One resident, Kenneth Schuster, has been outside watching so often, he was even given a neon construction vest to wear from the sidewalk.
Residents say it has been very nostalgic to watch the workers, because they used to have jobs in construction trades back in the day.
“I am one that worked in the construction trades for many years,” said Kenneth Schuster, a Jacobetti resident. “So this is a treat obviously, to speak to the actual brains behind that job.”
Residents say they were excited to meet with the construction crew, look at the actual blueprints for the building, and find out what tools and materials have been used on the project.