A multimillion-dollar construction project at the Saint Alphonsus Emergency and Trauma Center in Boise started Tuesday not with a bang but with a mallet, then an ax.

Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center president Rodney Reider made three swings with a mallet to break a window outside the emergency room. But the glass wouldn't budge. It took Boise firefighters wielding an ax to finally break it.

The hospital will replace curtained ER bays with 32 private rooms and add 25 percent more capacity for ER and trauma visits.

To accommodate a growing senior population, the renovations will include a sound-absorbing floor and softer lighting.

Work is scheduled to be completed in spring 2014.