NORMAL - The future Illinois State University Alumni Center, being built in the former Eagle Country Market grocery store, had people watching the sky Tuesday.

The Lane Company, a Bloomington-based subcontractor working on the project, trucked 17 large air handler roof units to the site at 1101 N. Main St., Normal, but it still needed a way to lift the units. Each was almost as big as a compact car.

The answer was to use a helicopter.

"It's the first time we've ever done anything like this," said Ron Poshard, a field supervisor with McCoy Construction, the general contractor overseeing the alumni center project. "But if we had used a crane, it would have taken a day and a half and been very labor-intensive."

He estimated using the helicopter took only about 45 minutes instead.

The blustery day didn't affect the delivery, though some people who parked in the lot and stepped out to watch the activities found covering their eyes and grabbing their hats was necessary.

The giant interior space of what had been a supermarket is being cut into conference rooms and offices, so a different heating and cooling system was required, said Dick Runner, ISU facilities director.

Work began in August with demolition of the building's interior, Runner said.

The contractor hopes to get started on drywall installation later this week, Poshard said. Nearly all the steel framing has been erected to define interior walls, he said.

"It's starting to take some very nice shape on the inside," said Dianne Ashby, ISU vice president for university advancement. On the outside, a red brick front and landscaped green space will greet visitors.

When complete, the center will house Ashby's division, which is in charge of outreach and fundraising for the university. The offices now are scattered across campus.

Having more than 40,000 square feet under one roof as a place to welcome alumni and visitors and as a centralized location for her staff brings a smile from Ashby.

"I'm really looking forward to a lot of public traffic in that building, and it gets our alumni offices off the backstage," she said. Now, alumni services offices are tucked away in Bone Student Center.

The center, roughly halfway between the ISU campus and the interchanges of interstates 74, 55 and 39 at the north end of Normal, may become the first stop for alumni and campus visitors. It possibly may offer shuttles from its 200-space lot south to the main campus.

The center also may offer other ISU-related events in its conference space.

The ISU Foundation also will be in the building, as will the university publications office and some conference scheduling and management staff, she said.

She expects to open this summer with little fanfare, but ISU will bring out the red carpet for October's homecoming.

The building now is owned by Snyder Corp. The plan calls for Snyder to renovate the building and then sell the updated building to the ISU Foundation, which will lease the site to ISU, Ashby said.

The foundation is private, but its function is to support the university.

About a year ago, the ISU board voted 4-2 authorizing the lease plan for five years with an option to renew the lease for an additional five years.

Annual base lease payments can't exceed $275,000. Payment for improvements can't exceed $3 million.

Trustees Jay D. Bergman and Mike McCuskey voted against the proposal. Bergman said he wasn't fond of creating a welcome center in a strip mall box store. And both trustees had said they preferred ISU launch a fundraiser and build its own welcome center instead.

At that 2006 meeting, ISU President Al Bowman had said he understood Bergman's concerns, but he felt the former Eagle store - once renovated - would be visually appealing.

ISU needs the building to solve significant space problems, Bowman added.

On Tuesday, McCoy's Poshard didn't seem fazed by any worries about the visual aesthetics.

"We're going to make it a beautiful showcase," he said. "It's going to be splendid."