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Hale Library Blog

Building update: Work on the murals begins!

This week, we’re celebrating the start of restoration work on the murals! Over the next few weeks, Rachel Gilberti and her art restoration team from the John Canning Company will review the murals and work to bring them back to their original glory.

The murals in the Great Room have been uncovered.
The murals have been uncovered for the first time in nearly two years and restoration work has begun.

Back in 2018, soon after the fire, Gilberti and a team came in to assess the damage and do as much immediate repairs to the murals as they could. Afterward, they were covered while the rest of the Great Room underwent its huge reconstruction and restoration process. Last week, the covers were taken off the murals for the first time in two years!

A picture of Rachel Gilberti in front of the murals.
Rachel Gilberti, fine arts conservator with the John Canning Company, holds acetate transparencies of the murals from two years and today. The transparencies show the difference in damage to the murals from right after the fire to how they look today.

The fourth floor has seen some significant progress lately, as crew members work on installing ceiling tile and mobile bookshelves. Further work has also been done on the graduate study rooms on the third floor, along with the staircase within the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab.

The stairs between the first and second floors of the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab are covered with wood temporarily.
The stairs connecting the first and second floors of the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab are currently covered with wood. After completion, the wood coverings will be removed to reveal stone steps.
The graduate study rooms on the third floor are under construction.
Graduate study rooms on the third floor will provide dedicated space for graduate students to use. 

On the first floor, students, staff and faculty have been able to visit and purchase items from the newly opened Joyce and Joe’s Cornerstone Café. Right now, visitors can purchase grab and go options and consume them in the café area.

Inside Joyce and Joe's Cornerstone Cafe, grab and go food and drink options are laid out for visitors.
The grab and go section of Joyce and Joe’s Cornerstone Café provides easy snacks and drinks for those who need a little extra energy while studying! The café will offer an expanded menu of made to order items later this semester.
A picture of crew members working on installing the rails for the mobile bookshelves on the fourth floor.
Crew members on the fourth floor have been installing the rails for the mobile bookshelves.
A picture of the southwest stairwell leading to the fourth floor, with a stained glass window.
In the southwest stairwell leading to the fourth floor is a stained glass window, undamaged by the 2018 fire. The circular sunflower window was made by Bill Hemminger in memory of Elmer Tomasch, an art professor at K-State during the seventies. Tomasch made the statue of Johnny Kaw in City Park.
Crew members work on repairing and painting the ceiling in the fourth floor corridor.
Crew members work on repairing and painting the ceiling in the fourth floor corridor. We’re super impressed with their ability to balance on the stilts they use to reach high spaces!

Next week on the blog, we’ll be sharing more details and pictures of the murals’ restoration. We’re excited to follow their progress!

 

 

One thought on “Building update: Work on the murals begins!
  1. Thanks for always updating us. Nice to know something beautiful will come out of such a tragic event.

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