When James Stanford ’26 heads to class for his final semester at Merrimack, takes one final walk across campus before Commencement in May or returns to his alma mater for Reunions, he can literally step into part of his legacy at the College.
For most of 2025, Stanford, a civil engineering major, has worked as an intern for PROCON, the design and construction management firm building Merrimack’s new academic hall on Sullivan Quad. His range of responsibilities include field engineering work to working with subcontractors.
“It’s been really cool to see how what I am working on in class relates to what actually goes on in the workforce,” Stanford explained. “It has also been cool to see this project from start to finish.”
The two-story, 19,205-square-foot building features five lecture halls and will significantly increase the College’s on-campus learning space. Among the first courses that will be taught in the new building when it opens for the spring 2026 semester include data science, entrepreneurship, sports management and history.
Stanford learned of the PROCON internship through the O’Brien Center for Career Development, and applied in January for what was expected to be a summer internship. But because he would be working in the new academic hall right on campus, Stanford started his internship in February and has been working throughout the year.
“It is definitely a lot of work to transition between classes and my internship but this is a really interesting experience,” Stanford said. “Merrimack prepares you really well.”
Merrimack College has worked with PROCON on several projects across campus, including the renovations of the Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher and the School of Engineering and Computational Sciences and the construction of the Gallant Pavilion in Lawler Arena.
Robert Danehy ’22, a project engineer for PROCON, worked on those projects but the new academic building is his first ground-up construction job.
“This project has been awesome,” said Danehy, who serves as assistant superintendent. “What I learned in the classroom at Merrimack, from steel design, concrete design and foundation design, I got to see a lot of that come together through this project.”
Of course, Danehy added, nothing beats experience, and Stanford has had plenty through his internship.
“It almost gives you a sense of pride, being able to walk by a building and say ‘I made a meaningful contribution to Merrimack’s campus,’” Stanford said.