This blog details the three-year journey to renovate Hale Library after the May 22, 2018, fire.
This blog has allowed us to share our journey of recovery with the K-State and library communities both near and far. We will never forget the generosity and outpouring of support as we worked to rebuild and create a next-generation library.
What a difference a year makes! One year ago, finals week was in full swing on the K-State campus, and Hale Library was packed. This year, construction crews started tearing down drop ceilings on Hale’s second floor and framing out new walls on the first floor.
Here’s a visual tour of the latest progress. We’re hoping for an A+!
At left, Mike Haddock, Kim Bugbee, and Carolyn Hodgson prepare to hand out snacks to studious K-Staters during spring finals week 2018. At right, a pile of metal drop ceiling grid sits in the spot where they stood a year earlier. Zach Kuntz, Willie and Adam Carr (’19) staff the Library Help Desk, finals week spring 2016.Hale Library Help Desk, finals week spring 2019.
Here are a few more views of Hale Library’s main floor that will be familiar to our regular visitors.
The entrance to Hale Library’s main floor is filled with construction debris. More debris fills the east end of the main floor. The space was previously filled with computer carrels and comfortable seating.
Meanwhile, on first floor, they’ve moved past the demolition phase and have begun framing out the walls for the new Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons, opening fall 2019.
In these photos, the yellow pointer on the embedded map indicates where the photographer, Associate Dean Mike Haddock, was standing and which direction he was facing.
The future welcoming entrance to the Dave and Ellie Everitt Learning Commons is located just inside Hale Library’s southeast doors.
Another view of the entrance with the exterior doors visible at left. A construction worker on an aerial lift installs insulation in one of two future seminar rooms on the south side of Hale Library’s first floor. Crews install ductwork and metal framing in the future Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons. This space will feature multiple reservable study rooms for six to eight students. Another view of the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons. The glass-walled reservable study rooms will be equipped with technology so students can work on group projects, practice presentations, video conference and more. Walls are going up around a future “partner space,” a spot where campus service providers, from tutoring to financial advising, can meet with students in a convenient setting that’s open 24-hours-a-day. Construction workers operating a mini-excavator are visible through the metal framing of the future Innovation Lab.In the former Einstein Bros., a trench for new outflow pipes sits covered with plywood. The improvements were needed in order to bring Hale Library’s future cafe space up-to-code.
We hope everyone involved in spring finals week 2019 finishes strong. We look forward to seeing you in Hale Library’s Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons for finals week next fall.
And congratulations graduates! Please come see us for a tour when you return to campus for a visit!
Related
2 thoughts on “Building update, week 51”
Amazing – loved the map with the directional pointer.
Thank you, Debi! We hoped our closest friends would appreciate that detail and be able to follow along even better! 🙂
Amazing – loved the map with the directional pointer.
Thank you, Debi! We hoped our closest friends would appreciate that detail and be able to follow along even better! 🙂