In October 2025, the mayor of North Saint Paul and the city council approved a partnership between the City of North Saint Paul and Saint Paul College. The partnership was created to give our cabinetmaking and carpentry students real-world experience on a residential build.

As the Spring semester comes to an end, students showed off their work on May 12. Tom Leiskau (carpentry) and Tom Hillstead (cabinetmaking), along with Saint Paul College students and project managers for the City of North Saint Paul, worked together to turn a vacant lot into a 4-bedroom duplex with 3 bathrooms and a finished basement.  We are so proud of the excellent work that our students did on this project, and look forward to seeing what future students can do as part of our partnership with the City of Saint Paul.

The duplex is not yet ready for residents, but the City of North Saint Paul project managers will button up the project. For anyone interested, an open house is planned for August. We hope you get a chance to see the finished work our students had a hand in building.

Students and instructors stand near the duplex under construction alongside a Saint Paul College trailer, discussing progress on the residential build project in North Saint Paul.
Group of construction students and instructors wearing hard hats and safety vests gathered outside a garage, listening to instructions during a hands-on building project at the duplex site.