For most of us in The Knight newsroom, the immaculately crafted interior of North Hall remains a mystery.

Although we haven’t gazed upon the spiral staircase with our own eyes or placed our hands under its pristine faucets, The Knight is a group of believers.

Doubting Thomases we are not; Gannon got it right this time.

The new building, which is tall enough to add to the skyline of Erie and provides a Colossus of Rhodes-like presence to everything east of Sassafras Street and north of Sixth Street, has sky rocketed to the top of the Gannon housing food chain – demolishing the formerly undefeated Harborview apartments.

Worth more than the imposing presence it has over the campus is the message it sends to the current and potential students.

Aside from putting the university in direct competition with Trump Towers, North Hall proves that Gannon is financially stable and that the arrow on this small, private inner-city school is only pointed up. At a time when public universities, like Penn State, are cutting budgets by millions, Gannon decides to spend $17 million on a state-of-the-art residence hall which is filled to capacity with 293 students – 67 percent being freshmen.

If Gannon can spend 17 mills in one of the worst economies of the generation, imagine what it could do when things get better.

But it doesn’t stop there.

The transition made by Antlers as well as the recent purchase of the Loyal Christian Benefit Association are all parts of the university’s master plan to modernize the campus.

And other than taking property taxable land from the city of Erie, there is nothing wrong with Gannon’s recent purchasing efforts.

Unless, that is, you’re one of the other local schools trying to keep up.