In early September 2009 Southwestern began an extensve retrofit of the Fairview Hall welding lab. By enclosing an existing overhang that had served as a loading area and outdoor storage, 2000 square feet was converted to lab space. This new area allowed storage and some existing machinery to be moved from the shop floor allowing room for eight new, energy efficient, state of the art, dual welding booths with self-contained filter systems creating 16 additional teaching stations. The retrofit phase is nearly complete and the booths should arrive and be installed in mid to late February 2010.