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.
At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, August 28, 2019, Dean Lori Goetsch opened the doors to the Dave and Ellie Everitt Learning Commons on Hale Library’s first floor.
Oh, K-State friends. We wish you could have been there. It was a beautiful thing. After 15 long months, our people finally got to come back to their Home Sweet Hale.
It wouldn’t have been possible without the more than 2,400 individuals who contributed to Help for Hale. We have four more floors to renovate, so please, be a part of creating the rest of our next-generation library. It’s easy to make a gift through the KSU Foundation online.
If you’re on campus, come visit! We’ll be closed Saturday-Monday of Labor Day weekend, but regular hours start Tuesday.
The flow of early morning visitors was slow but steady. Within three hours, though, students swarmed the space.HOME SWEET HALE! Welcome to the Dave and Ellie Everitt Learning Commons.Students hooked their laptops up to the large collaboration screens in the reservable study rooms; they curled up in soft chairs; and they put the white boards to good use.Padded benches now fill the nook in front of the windows to the 1955 stacks addition. Sierra Marstall tweeted this great pic and wrote, “Can I get a HALE YEAH?! But seriously go check Hale out. It’s amazing. We are BIG fans…” We’re calling this area the “living room” for obvious reasons. Very comfortable!Two of the first students in the door met for breakfast and a study session. (And they posed for a million photos. Thank you, guys!) Photo courtesy of the K-State Alumni Association. Loads of seating options fill the space — note the tall table and chairs in the background.Casey Keller of K-State’s Information Technology Assistance Center was doing some final set up as the doors opened. A quiet nook with an added screen for privacy. Home Sweet Hale flags welcome students to the sunflower entrance at the southeast corner of the building. Every one of these desks was full within hours of the doors opening.We love the accent lighting in this space.Tara Coleman and Darchelle Martin were just a few of the library employees in purple “Hale Staff” T-shirts who welcomed everyone who came in the building. The reservable study rooms filled up fast!The entire Everitt Learning Commons is filled with enormous whiteboard walls. Employees left welcome notes throughout the space, and then students quickly employed them for more academic uses. It’s so good to see the crowds of students who stop between classes, who settle in for hours of study and who dearly missed their Home Sweet Hale.
It’s crunch time! Back in April, Hutton Construction superintendent Mike told us that toward the end of a job, it’s critical to get the “smarts and parts” in order to get them installed and meet the deadline.
“Those are the things like technology—and there’s going to be a lot of it on the first floor—or door handles and other fixtures that don’t get manufactured until the order is placed,” he said.
That’s the final step. And that’s exactly what’s going down now on Hale Library’s first floor.
The new sunflower entrance at Hale Library’s southeast corner leads directly onto the first floor Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons. Once the video monitors and signage are installed — more “smarts and parts”! — this entryway will welcome visitors to the Everitt Learning Commons. A crew member cuts metal trim. A few of the reservable collaboration rooms are visible at right. Workers put finishing touches on more of the reservable collaboration rooms. All of the collaboration rooms have floor-to-ceiling white board walls, and most will be equipped with monitors for videoconferencing, practicing presentations and more. Workers install an accent wall near the elevator that will lead up to the second through fourth floors. Those spaces will remain under construction this semester. K-State Libraries graphic designer Tara Marintzer tries out some of the new furniture near the first floor stairway. More white boards are mounted in front of the limestone exterior of the 1955 library stacks addition. Plenty of seating will be available in front of these workspaces.Darchelle Martin, K-State Libraries public information officer, gets a shot of one of the seminar rooms. This will be designated as study space this semester, but it will be used for library instruction in the future, too.Another large study space with tables and video monitors for collaboration. A panoramic shot of the south side of the Everitt Learning Commons.Meanwhile, the rest of the building is still undergoing renovation, so some construction noise will be present during the daytime hours. Metal destined for recycling sits in a heap on third floor where demolition is underway. On second floor, a pile of salvaged wood trim in sits in the future home of the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies. Construction lights illuminate a work space lined with tool chests. While the electricity has been restored to the first floor, the rest of the building is still running on construction power from an external source. The entryway to the third floor Great Room has been widened and will serve as a beautiful welcome into the restored historic space. New, improved graduate study spaces will flank this area. Workers pile construction debris on the north side of the third floor and get it ready to send out the window. Debris from demolition exits the building via this tube, so work from the upper floors won’t disrupt visitors to the Everitt Learning Commons when it opens. Soon! Very soon!
We are just weeks away from opening the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons. An official open date will be announced soon, but we anticipate opening most of the first floor very early this fall.
“As is the case with large construction projects, you have to expect the unexpected,” said Lori Goetsch, dean of Libraries. “But it’s coming together beautifully, and we wanted to get the word out in advance of students returning to campus.”
The first floor Everitt Learning Commons is a bright, welcoming space that will feature plenty of options for seating and group study.Crew members mud drywall and install limestone immediately to the right of the first floor entrance. The elevators, the cafe, and a large presentation room, which is located in the former Einstein Bros., are at the east end of the building. A fireplace anchors the Hale Family Cornerstone Cafe, which will open in the spring semester. Until it’s ready, it will be walled off from the rest of the first floor. Crew members install ceiling grid. There is still a lot of work to be done, but it’s moving very quickly. The first floor swarms with crew members from a dozen different subcontractors. They’re finishing lighting, drywall, painting, carpeting, and more. Cardboard covers the new purple and dark gray carpet so it remains clean in the midst of all the construction work. Workers install benches in front of the windows that look into the first floor stacks. This will be a cozy spot to study. Desks line the hallway that links the west end of the building to the large, open portion of the Everitt Learning Commons. On the left are a few of the 14 reservable group study rooms. To the right, plywood mounts indicate where the white boards will be hung. The surrounding limestone facade of the 1955 library building addition will remain exposed. Crew members wheel drywall past one of the large seminar rooms. Crew members unpack furniture. Note the electrical outlets on the ottoman: The Everitt Learning Commons will have plenty of outlets! Hooray!And just one floor up on second, workers smooth concrete in the main entrance. New tiles go in soon. Even though the first floor will be open, Hale Library will be a construction zone for several more semesters, so some noise is to be expected during the day.
Stay tuned! We’re hoping to announce our opening date next week.
