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| Construction on library slated to
begin spring ‘03 |
Chris
Bohle
Senior Staff Writer
Business Affairs Beat |
courtesy Belk LibraryThe new Library/Information
Commons will be located off current College Street.
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The design development phase for
the new library is complete, and construction is scheduled to begin
in less than six months.
“We are looking to break ground sometime
in March or April,” said Jon Ross, architect for Shepley Bulfinch
Richardson and Abbott (SBRA).
SBRA has been working with Pease Associates, a
Charlotte-based architecture firm, for more than a year designing
the new facility. |
Once ground is broken,
it will take about two years to build, with an estimated completion
date of December 2004.
The library will be approximately 215,000 gross square feet, compared
to 140,000 in Belk Library.
“It will be about 50 percent larger than Belk and the largest
square-footage building in Boone,” said Ross.
Situated where the current Whitener Parking Lot is, the new library
will have an effect on College Street.
“College Street will become blocked off for about 200 yards
for a pedestrian walkway,” said Ross. “Service vehicles
will have access, but regular vehicles will not be permitted.”
The library will feature an impressive entry lobby, including a
five-stories-high atrium. The lobby will have a cyber café
and will offer students a place to study at any time of the day.
“When we surveyed students and faculty, one of the things students
wanted was a 24-hour study-facility,” said Ross.
Once inside the actual library, students and faculty will find a
more spacious and user-friendly environment, with plenty of seating
areas for quiet- or group-study.
“By allowing a little extra book space, we have internally
created room for expansion,” said Howard Newman, architect
for Pease Associates.
The library will also be connected to a future parking deck by a
covered walkway. The parking deck will be built on the current Whitener
Hall foundation and is expected to be completed in the summer of
2006.
The library project currently falls just under budget, said Ross,
thanks to two last-minute changes over the summer.
“We changed from a concrete system to a steel system for the
internal columns, which saved us about $1 million,” he said.
“We also wanted a stone base, similar to Chapell-Wilson [Hall],
but for now we have made it brick, which is much cheaper.” |
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