On Oct. 15, 2015, nearly a year to the day Elon University launched the public phase of its fundraising drive for new School of Communications facilities, steel began rising from the site of Dwight C. Schar Hall. This image captures what the site looked like the following morning, just in time for Elon’s Homecoming festivals.

In the coming days, steel work will continue and the basement walls will be backfilled from Mount McEwen. The contractor’s goal is to have the roof on Schar Hall by the end of December. According to Communications Dean Paul Parsons, construction is a few days behind schedule, but not bad considering the amount of rain that fell on campus during late September and early October.

If the construction of Dwight C. Schar Hall has taught us anything, it’s that concrete is often poured while the rest of the world is asleep. On Oct. 6, 2015, crews began pouring concrete for the facility’s basement walls sometime after midnight – we didn’t quite make it out to confirm the start time – and were mostly wrapped up by 6 a.m. Associate Professor Vic Costello captured this wonderful wide-angle look at the facility about two hours later.

Additionally, we shared these “nocturnal” images with our Instagram followers the morning of the pour.

With several hundred students, parents, faculty and staff in attendance, Elon University held a ceremonial steel beam signing on Sept. 25, 2015, to honor donors and celebrate the new academic facilities now being constructed for the School of Communications Under the Oaks.

The ceremony, held in Studio B of the McEwen Communications Building, recognized those families who generously provided leadership gifts totaling more than $15 million in a special one-year capital campaign to fuel the expansion. Featured remarks were shared by Communications Dean Paul Parsons, Elon Trustee Edmond N. Moriarty III P’15 P’18, Elon junior Taylor E. Hoerr, Vice President for University Advancement Jim Piatt and President Leo M. Lambert.

The program, part of this year’s Family Weekend events, included the signing of a steel beam; those signatures will be featured in the lobby of the future Dwight C. Schar Hall, named in recognition of a gift from Dwight C. and Martha M. Schar P’16 P’19.

For the university’s full release highlighting the ceremony, click here.

Great turnout for our signing ceremony, celebrating Schar Hall and our charitable donors. pic.twitter.com/n0cawZe1Fb

— Elon Communications (@ElonComm) September 25, 2015

The basement walls of Dwight C. Schar Hall have started to take shape thanks to hundreds of rods of rebar (short for reinforcing bar). Once concrete is poured to complete the walls, unfortunately our dreams of having the best on-campus monkey bars set go by the wayside. Fortunately, the 250-seat Turner Theatre will offer us other entertainment come September 2016.

This video goes out to all our cement/concrete enthusiasts. Here's the scene at #ScharHall around 5 a.m. today. #elon #commexpansion

A video posted by Elon School of Communications (@eloncomm) on Sep 10, 2015 at 8:03am PDT

Forgive us for our excitement, and our frequent social media posts about cement, but today was another productive morning at the future home of Dwight C. Schar Hall. This morning construction crews hosted a second concrete pour around 3 a.m. The above video captures the scene around 5 a.m. The basement floor is now two-thirds complete. After the final pour of the floor, the basement walls will start arising.

This is how the construction site changed over the course of 12 hours.

As students made their way to 8 a.m. classes, crews were putting the finishing touches on the new concrete section.

The cement trucks arrived bright and early today at the construction site of Dwight C. Schar Hall. This is the scene at 4:45 am. #Elon #commexpansion #EarlyStart #backtobed

A video posted by Elon School of Communications (@eloncomm) on Sep 4, 2015 at 2:05am PDT

The cement trucks arrived early Sept. 4, 2015, at the construction site of Dwight C. Schar Hall. The above video highlights what the site looked like at 4:45 a.m. (If you follow us on Instagram, you probably already know this. Hint, hint.)

According to the construction foreman, crews began prepping the site around 2 a.m. and started pouring concrete an hour later. A portion of West Lebanon Avenue was closed during the work, but reopened before classes began.

The first day of pouring focused on the foundation that will support the 250-seat Turner Theatre. According to the foreman, crews are expected back Sept. 9-10 to continue pouring concrete.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of how Schar Hall changed in just a few hours.

Thanks to Associate Professor Vic Costello for capturing this terrific image the morning of the concrete pour.

Who says that nothing good happens after 2 a.m.? According to the site foreman for the communications expansion project, cement trucks will make their first appearance at the future home of Dwight C. Schar Hall around 3 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 4. If you want to see the action, don’t sleep in because the trucks will likely be gone by 5 or 6 a.m., the foreman said.

A portion of West Lebanon Avenue will likely be shut down during the wee hours of the morning, but reopened in time for 8 a.m. classes.

In his annual video message, published on Aug. 19, 2015, President Leo M. Lambert shared highlights of the upcoming academic year, including new facilities, programs and special initiatives. Among the topics he spotlighted were the communications expansion and the early construction of Dwight C. Schar Hall, a new 45,000-square-foot facility connected to McEwen Building via the Snow Family Grand Atrium.

At the video’s 42-second mark, President Lambert touches on the expansion while standing Under the Oaks. The video is worth watching for the drone footage alone!

During the morning of Aug. 14, Communications Dean Paul Parsons and University Architect Brad Moore toured the construction site of the future Dwight C. Schar Hall. The visit to the site highlighted the building’s early progress, including the crews’ current plumbing work. Moore predicted that cement trucks could be arriving to the site by as soon as early September.

As the photographs illustrate, the tour included a trip to Schar Hall’s basement as well as a hike up Mt. McEwen, which is steeper than it looks. Check out the School of Communications’ Flickr page for more construction photos.

It’s almost time to brush up on your elevator etiquette. After nearly two months of crews removing dirt at the Dwight C. Schar Hall construction site, a small section of the building – specially the elevator shaft – is taking shape.