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.
Last week, the first phase of the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab opened. K-State Libraries and the Division of Information Technology have been working together to bring this dream to life over the past few years. We are very excited to see students and staff in the new space!
The Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab will open in phases; the lab is scheduled to fully open this fall.
The first phase includes the opening of the media studio and equipment checkout areas. The media studio, located on the first floor of the lab, includes Macs and PCs with the Adobe Creative suite and video editing software. The space also includes large format scanning. At the equipment checkout desk on the second floor, K-State students and staff can currently borrow items such as laptops, projectors, cameras and cell phone tripods.
Both spaces are currently operating under special COVID-19 protocols. Computers are spaced out for social distancing and some equipment is not available for checkout.
Friendly student workers at the second floor equipment checkout can help K-State students and staff borrow the technology they need for projects.The media studio includes several Macs and PCs with a variety of special software, including the Adobe Creative Suite.
This is just the first phase of several installments of advanced technology. When the Innovation Lab fully opens next fall, K-Staters will have access to even more awesome areas, including makerspaces, video production studios, a virtual reality room and more.
This area, not yet open, will become the low-tech makerspace. The space will feature sewing machines, maker kits, soldering irons and a variety of hand tools, including hammers, drills and other building supplies.Through the Innovation Lab’s first floor window, you can see books filling the shelves of the Virginia Carlson Family Reading Room.
The Innovation Lab is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and all are welcome to come explore the space. Knowledgeable staff are available to help answer questions and direct patrons to resources.
We also want to remind our readers that you are invited to join us on April 15 at 6:30 p.m. for the Tale of Hale, a virtual ribbon cutting and official re-opening celebration of Hale Library. This storytelling event will feature narration by proud K-Staters, including Dean of Libraries Lori Goetsch and K-State President Richard Myers.
You can RSVP online for this event at ksufoundation.org/rsvp/libraries/ or by calling (785)775-2040. The viewing link and details will be sent following your registration.
It’s a big week for Hale Library and K-State! On Monday we opened several new spaces including the third and fourth floors and two floors of Historic Farrell Library. This means nearly all of the first through fourth floors are now open to the public.
Despite the recent freezing temperatures and a campus closure on Tuesday due to rolling blackouts, students braved the Kansas tundra on Wednesday to explore the new spaces Hale Library has to offer. Beautiful, historic spaces such as the Great Room seem to be very popular so far of course, but many students have taken to exploring the more hidden nooks and crannies of the upper floors in search of the perfect, quiet study spot.
The seating area near Joyce and Joe’s Cornerstone Café on the first floor has become a popular meeting spot for students to catch up and grab a coffee or some snacks.
While construction is complete on most of the building, some spaces, including the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab and the fifth floor, are currently closed to the public. The Innovation Lab will open in phases later this spring.
This semester, visitors and students will have a variety of new spaces to explore in the building.
Remas Alzubaidi, a sophomore studying architectural engineering, found a quiet study space on the second floor. The second floor has more than 99 computer workstations and study spots.
On the second floor of Historic Farrell Library, a new reading room with lots of natural light includes study space and will house the current periodicals collection. At the opposite end of the space is the new home for the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies. The Virginia Carlson Family Reading Room will open soon on the first floor of Historic Farrell Library. The room will include study space and house the juvenile literature and curriculum materials collections.
A view from the future home of the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies looks into the second floor reading room.
On the third floor, visitors and students can marvel at the beautiful, restored Great Room or Harry Potter Room. A meditation space and Wudu wash station are available to all patrons. Additional study spaces on the third floor allow for a quieter atmosphere than the floors below.
Freshmen Julia Smith, open option, and Lauren Dornbush, food science, studied together in the Great Room. Julia said she saw the original Great Room when she was little but that it’s very special seeing it as a K-Stater.Junior Josh Jones, organizational management, enjoys the peacefulness of the newly renovated Great Room.
Libraries staff and Belfor crews have been busy processing, organizing and returning books to the shelves. So far, over 25,000 boxes have been returned to Hale Library for reshelving. Stacks A through C are filled in addition to most of stack D. The music and art collection has also been reshelved on the third floor.
The music and art collections have been reshelved on the third floor of Hale Library. Currently, most items from the main collection with call number ranges A to PN 684 and the music and art collections have been reshelved.
The fourth floor, as the quiet floor, provides study space for those who prefer a quiet space to concentrate on their work. More collaboration rooms, computers, printers and scanners are available in the newly opened spaces as well as four additional family and gender-neutral restrooms.
Max Nease, a freshman in mechanical engineering, said that he loves seeing the books in the library and getting to explore to find the perfect study spot. Looks like he found a good one!
We can’t wait to see the building fill up more as more folks come to visit the new building and explore what Hale Library has to offer them. In the coming weeks, we hope to share more photos of the spaces being used, as well as updates on spaces like the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab.
The only question left to ask is, when are you going to come check out Hale Library?
While Hale Library was originally scheduled to open all floors on Jan. 25, we needed just a little more time to finalize construction. The first floor is currently open, and we plan to open the remaining floors Feb. 8.
However, the building is very close to being ready. We were even able to provide our staff and Friends of the K-State Libraries Board of Directors with a sneak peek of the spaces.
In addition to final construction activities, workers have been busy unpacking and setting up new furniture throughout the building. Due to some delays in furniture arrivals and the need to space out furniture for social distancing, much of the furniture is not in its permanent location.
The Great Room is ready for visitors once again! New tables and chairs are in place after the fire destroyed the previous furniture. We have also added lots of electrical outlets, a major issue for students in the past.Due to delays on some of the new furniture and the COVID-19 pandemic, furniture has been spaced out throughout the library. Here, some of the new Great Room furniture temporarily sits in the new Virginia Carlson Family Reading Room on the first floor.A few pieces of furniture from before the fire were able to be salvaged and cleaned. These large tables were a favorite of students looking to spread out their papers, textbooks and laptop while they studied. They are now located on the fourth floor.More computer stations have been set up on third and fourth floors. This set of computer desks on fourth floor gets a lot of great natural light.
In addition to furniture set up, we continue to make progress reshelving our collections. Much of the music and art collection are now back on bookshelves in Hale Library. When Hale Library opens on Feb. 8 any materials that are shelved can be checked out. The reshelving process will continue throughout the semester.
Debbie Wasinger, accounting specialist, reads the call numbers on the books to confirm that they are in the correct order. We call this shelf reading. The collection is shelf read at our staging facility before being returned to Hale, and is then shelf read again at Hale Library to make sure users will be able to find what they need.
We were excited to offer our current and former staff members a tour of the spaces before we open to the public. Many of our current and former employees had never seen the new spaces. Several tours were offered over a two day period so small groups could properly social distance.
A tour group led by Associate Dean Mike Haddock toured the completely restored Great Room.Here, another group stops at the Great Room entrance in the expanded foyer. One of the two graduate student study rooms can be seen in the background behind the glass walls. Tara Marintzer, senior graphic designer, stands in front of her future desk. Several staff members were excited to get a first look at their new office spaces. In addition to staff, some of the Friends of the Libraries Board of Directors also got a sneak peek of the new spaces. They were particularly excited to see the Great Room.The Friends Board also got a look at The Friends of the K-State Libraries Instruction Room, which was made possible by donations to the Friends. The large instruction room will provide a space for librarians to teach research skills to K-State students.
We are excited for others to soon explore all that Hale Library has to offer. As many tour attendees told us, the pictures are great, but they don’t do it justice. You have to see it for yourself.
It’s 2021, the spring semester is close at hand, and we’re prepping Hale Library for a scheduled opening on Jan. 25!
Books related to the topic of music arrived in boxes to the third floor, and staff have started moving them to the shelves. Also on the third floor, map cases and furniture for computers and study seating have been installed. The bright and sunny study nooks on the third floor will be a lot like the study nooks on the south side of the second floor.
More books have arrived in the library. Staff have started shelving books on the topic of music; we can’t wait to see these shelves fill up!The third floor has more study areas for students and patrons to use. The third and fourth floors are designed to be quieter study areas with the fourth floor officially designated for quiet study only.
Another exciting development is that the area around the Academic Learning Center, above the event gallery, has had glass walls installed. Glass gallery walls were also installed for the graduate study rooms down below on the third floor.
Along with the installation of glass surrounding the Academic Learning Center area, clerestory lights have been placed near the ceiling to brighten the space.Glass storefronts have been added to the graduate study rooms on the third floor surrounding the event gallery space. In the window’s reflection, you can see the historic wooden doorway to the Great Room.
We’re also thrilled to see more shelving pop up around the building! For example, the second floor of Historic Farrell Library now has shelves installed for our current periodical collection. The fifth floor mobile shelving has also been completed. We even added some extra shelving to stack G for more books!
Shelving for current periodicals has been installed in the second floor of Historic Farrell Library. Low shelving lets more natural light into the space, which we are loving!On the fifth floor, compact mobile shelving has been installed for Special Collections materials.
The Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab is coming along, with the installation of new whiteboards and equipment checkout storage. Crew members have also started installing the glass storefront at the second floor entrance. Because of the amount of high tech equipment for the Innovation Lab, the Libraries plan to open the space in phases, with completion expected in fall 2021. This will ensure that we have the latest and greatest technology when students and faculty are hopefully able to gather more easily.
A glass storefront has been installed at the second floor entrance of the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab.
It’s been a long time coming but we are very close to welcoming the community back to Hale Library. We are looking forward to seeing visitors, both those familiar with the earlier iteration of the building and those who are taking their first steps into the library, explore the new spaces and take advantage of what the library and our amazing staff have to offer.
We didn’t know it was possible to be this excited about new furniture, but here we are!
Last week, about 700 pieces of furniture were delivered to the second floor of Hale Library. From there, the furniture was sorted and dispersed throughout the library to their respective locations. Now, crew members have started unpacking and setting up the new pieces, which include tables, chairs, office desks and other workspace furniture. More furniture will be arriving over the next several weeks.
Some offices in Hale Library, including these offices on the third floor, have already been outfitted with new desks and shelving. Now all that’s missing is our fantastic staff!Workstations on the fifth floor are in the process of being installed. We can’t wait to see lots of friendly faces in this space in the future.Pieces of office furniture are placed on the second floor before being distributed throughout the building.
Another exciting development last week was the carpeting of the second floor of Historic Farrell Library. The main area will house current print journals and study space for students.
Library staff are still working on filling the stacks with books, but things are moving quickly! We are thrilled to see our collection back in the building.
The Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies will be located on the other side of the beautiful wood and glass wall at the east end of the room. The Center’s mission is to provide a space for students, faculty, staff and the community to explore human diversity, the changing landscape of American demographics and the impact of globalization.
This beautiful, newly carpeted space on the second floor of Historic Farrell Library will provide lots of natural light, a top request from students for renovated study spaces.A sneak peek of the second floor of the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab shows that carpet has been added. To the left, you can see one of the original 1927 doorways to Historic Farrell Library.Crew member Bryan Hauck works on refinishing one of the original 1927 doors for Historic Farrell Library. We appreciate the crew’s efforts in restoring these special, historic elements of the building.
As we get ready to say goodbye to 2020, we are filled with excitement and anticipation for what 2021 will bring for Hale Library. By the start of spring semester most of Hale Library will be accessible to patrons and visitors. Other spaces, including the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab, will still be undergoing work due to the volume of technology and equipment.
Thank you for joining us this far on Hale Library’s journey and all of us at K-State Libraries wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!
We’re less than a week shy of Winter Break, which means that soon, Hale Library will be closing to work on renovations in time for the start of the spring semester. At that point, the five floors of the library will open to the public and K-State community. The Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab will open later in spring.
As you can imagine, getting closer to completing most of the renovations means that the bulk of construction is finished and final touches, including shelving, lighting and furniture installation are currently in progress.
One exciting development is that the Great Room has been completely carpeted, as well as most of the fifth floor! The Academic Learning Center space on the fourth floor also has been carpeted.
A view from the fourth floor balcony reveals the nearly completed Great Room.The Great Room has been fully carpeted. To the left, you can see the restored murals and bookshelves.Last month, crew members spent time carpeting the fifth floor in preparation for furniture installation.Crew members are now installing employee workstations on the fifth floor.
New furniture, including workstations, has started arriving to the library; more new furniture for the upper floors is expected to arrive soon.
The Academic Learning Center on the fourth floor has been carpeted and includes a new kitchenette area. In the background, you can see the “We Are the Dream” mural, which now has lighting installed above it.
Shelving installation on the third and fourth floors is nearly complete and crew members are also setting up shelving in the special collections space on the fifth floor.
On the south side of the fourth floor, more shelving has been installed. Crew members have nearly completed shelving on the third and fourth floors of the library.The east end of the third floor includes shelving for multimedia materials.The temporary walls to the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab on the first and second floors have been removed, so now we can see the entrance to the space! The first phase of the Innovation Lab is expected to open later in the spring semester.
We are enthusiastically awaiting the delivery and installation of the rest of the new furniture and hope to share pictures in our next blog post.
We also want to wish good luck to students, faculty and the K-State community during this finals week. You’re nearly there and a well-deserved break lies on the other side!
We’re nearing the end of November, which means that we are only about two months away from completing the renovation of Hale Library!
All floors of the library will open on January 25, 2021. As we get closer to that exciting date, construction continues and many spaces within the building are nearing completion or having final touches added. Stacks A through C have been completely filled with books and staff are now working on filling Stack D.
On the fifth floor, carpeting is being added to the administrative suites and the Special Collections reading room. We are especially thrilled to see the finished construction of the reading room desk, where visitors will check in with staff to use special collections’ materials. Crew members also have delivered wood lockers that can hold patrons’ personal items while they research.
Crew members are installing baseboard and the wooden lockers in the Special Collections reading room.While the counter space is newly constructed, the darker-colored wooden desk to the right is the original Special Collections reading room desk. The newly constructed Kenneth S. Davis Seminar Room is located on the other side of the windows.
On the third floor, lockers have been installed in the graduate student study rooms and progress has been made on the event and gallery space outside the Great Room. Nearly all the new shelving on the upper floors has been installed as well.
New lighting has been installed in the event and gallery space on the third floor before entering the Great Room. The terrazzo floor is currently covered with a protective layer of masonite. Last week, crew members were working on installing shelving on the fourth floor. Shelving installation on both the third and fourth floors is nearly complete.
Further plaster repair is in the works on the first and second floors of the Historic Farrell Library. At the east end of the second floor, workers recently finished staining the original woodwork and doors.
Crew members work to repair plaster on the first floor of Historic Farrell Library. This space will be the Virginia Carlson Family Reading Room. It will house the juvenile literature and curriculum materials collection in addition to study space.The stained woodwork and doors at the east end of the second floor in Historic Farrell Library will provide a beautiful entrance to the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies. The restoration of the Great Room murals is complete and crew members are clearing construction materials from the room in preparation for carpet installation.
The first floor of Hale Library will be open during dead week and finals week. After that, the library will close as construction wraps up. We will then begin the tedious and exciting task of installing the furniture and technology for the third through fifth floors and the three floors of Historic Farrell Library. We expect everything to be ready the first day of spring semester classes, except for the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab, which will require a bit more time to get all the technology ready. The first phase of the Innovation Lab is scheduled to open in March 2021.
We wish everyone a safe fall break and Thanksgiving. We at the Libraries are forever grateful for all those who have made the renovation and restoration of Hale Library a possibility.
We’re more than halfway through the semester, and the progress in Hale Library is astonishing to see. Currently, two of the four Great Room murals have been completely restored, and the upper floors of the library are looking put together. The excitement among staff and students is growing more and more as we get closer to January and the opening of the remaining floors.
Shelving has been installed on the third floor for various types of items including books and other media.These cabinets on the third floor will store CDs and DVDs.
Crew members have been hard at work on the third floor installing various types of shelving. While the bulk of the shelving on the third floor will be for books, the space will also include shelving for audiovisual materials such as CDs, DVDs and LPs. There will also be storage spaces for music scores, art and other large items. It is so exciting to see nice, new shelves back in the main library spaces. In addition, Stack C is a little over halfway filled with books now.
Earlier this month, Stack C was being filled with books.
Throughout the office spaces and open areas on the fourth floor, crew members have been working on applying carpet glue and the carpeting itself. In addition, study alcoves have been built along two corridors on the fourth floor.
Crew members are working on carpeting the fourth floor main areas and offices.The study alcoves on the fourth floor will give students a quiet space to work.
In the events gallery on the third floor, the large space in between the graduate study rooms, the original 1927 terrazzo floor has been restored, cleaned and polished. Before the fire, the floor was covered with carpet so we’re excited to see it revealed.
Terrazzo is a bright-colored material which is used for floor and wall treatments. It often consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite or glass. Our terrazzo is looking beautiful!
In the Great Room, work on the murals has continued at a very fast pace! As of right now, the Industry and Agriculture murals have been completely finished. The art conservationists are focusing their work now on the remaining two murals—the Arts and the Home.
Earlier this month, art conservators Tim Phebus and Rachel Gilberti worked quite a bit on the Agriculture mural, which is now completed.This photo shows the Agriculture mural completely restored. We think it looks amazing!
We want to say thank you to the crew members and art conservators who are working very hard as we near the end of Hale Library’s renovation timeline. As the “heart of campus,” the library means a lot to the K-State community and we are so appreciative of the people who have taken a special interest in this project and come to love the building as much as we do.
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 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!
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 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.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.
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.Crew members on the fourth floor have been installing the rails for the mobile bookshelves.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. 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!
While students, staff and faculty have been adjusting to a new normal at K-State and within the community, work on Hale Library has continued at a rapid pace.
Libraries staff are ecstatic to see books back in the library. Stack A is now completely filled with books that have been cleaned, sorted and re-shelved. While the books will not be available to patrons immediately due to ongoing construction, it is still exciting to have books back in the library.
Stack A is filled with books, thanks to the efforts of the Belfor team and Libraries staff!
With the third floor completely carpeted, crew members have started constructing furniture, such as study nooks behind the Friends of the K-State Libraries Instruction Room.
A glimpse inside the Friends of the K-State Libraries Instruction Room. While the room appears to be shaped like an ellipse on the outside, the inside is actually rectangular.Just outside the Friends of the K-State Libraries Instruction Room, study spaces have been installed for students to use. Libraries staff conducted assessment on the use of the first floor furniture and spaces and found that this design was popular with students. The assessment results were taken into account when deciding on furniture for the upper floors.
In the Great Room, the crew is working on painting decorative moldings and staining the bookshelves lining the room. The added color in the historic space is exciting to see. Art restoration specialists will officially start work on restoring the murals this week. We can’t wait to share pictures with you throughout the process!
The bookshelves that line the Great Room walls have been repaired and stained. We love the beautiful finish!A crew member works on painting the cornices in the Great Room.The John Canning company is scheduled to arrive with their equipment this week to begin the six week process of restoring the Great Room murals. Looking toward the west end of the building, this is what a corridor on the fourth floor currently looks like.
Lastly, we wanted to share the exciting news that Joyce and Joe’s Cornerstone Cafe is officially open! The cafe, located on the first floor of Hale Library, is now offering grab n’ go options for patrons who want a snack while visiting the building. There are plans to expand to made-to-order options later in the semester.
We hope you’ll stop by for a visit and a bite to eat!
The fall semester has officially begun, and here at the Libraries we are especially excited to have students back in the building.
It has been both an exhilarating and challenging experience welcoming students and patrons back to the Libraries after the summer break. As our staff work hard to help patrons and students while prioritizing safety, we want to say thank you to library visitors who are following guidelines and doing their best to keep their fellow Wildcats safe. We are all learning together through these unprecedented times, and we appreciate visitors’ patience and positive attitudes regarding COVID-19 guidelines.
K-State students practice social distancing while studying in a nook on the first floor.On the second floor, masked students study near the east end windows.
We also are thrilled about the progress with the upper floors. While work on the fifth floor has mostly paused for the moment, the third and fourth floors have undergone a rather dramatic transformation in just the last few weeks alone. The third floor, in particular, looks very polished with brand new carpeting, ceiling tile and lighting. The fourth floor has received further plaster and ceiling work as well.
The main area of the third floor is now completely carpeted. The tan-colored walkways are boards that crew members use to get around the space to avoid walking on the carpet.The area outside of the Friends of the K-State Libraries Instruction Room is carpeted as well. In the future, this area will have more soft seating.This is a recent picture of the second floor of the Innovation Lab, looking toward the Historic Farrell entrance. As you can see, the space is really starting to take shape.The fourth floor of the library is still under heavy construction, with crew members focusing on the replacement of pipes and
ceilings.
Crew members work on repairing plaster in the fourth floor Academic Learning Center. This area overlooks the event gallery space on the third floor.The areas surrounding the Great Room murals have been painted with purple, cream and sage green. It is so exciting to see some fresh color come into the space!There are three new cornices, or decorative moldings in the Great Room – one each at the east and west ends of the south wall, and one on the north wall. The other original cornices were cleaned and painted white. The plaster repair company took molds from the original cornices to create the three new ones.
It is heartening to see that despite the challenges the Libraries and K-State are facing this semester as a whole, people are still working together to create something beautiful and meaningful. We love seeing students explore the new spaces and hear their remarks on what they think of the renovation. Most of all, we relish the chance to remind them that while Hale Library might look pretty different, it is still a safe space for them to learn, and our staff’s mission to be of service has not changed.
We can’t believe that the start of fall semester is next week! Though we’ve encountered many challenges both on campus and throughout the community, the Libraries have forged ahead to ready the building for students as they return to campus and start classes.
A very exciting piece of news is that the first load of books within the general collection has been moved back into the library! The sorted books were removed from boxes and put on the shelves within the stacks.Kay Rieder, a Belfor team leader, poses with several team members in front of the first filled book shelf in Hale Library. Kay and her team have been extremely important to our success with the library materials since the fire two years ago.
Recently, the first floor of Hale Library reopened for the semester, along with the Math/Physics Library. This means that when students return to campus, they will have access to both floors of Hale Library and multiple resources to start classes strong. These resources include access to the IT and Library help desks, computer work stations, printers, study rooms and more.
The first floor of Hale Library looks even better now than it did when it first opened last fall. Joyce and Joe’s Cornerstone Café is nearly finished and has been filled with furniture. The new color-changing fireplace has been cause for much excitement. But don’t worry about the fire itself—it’s fake!
The cafe furniture includes individual tables, a large high-top table and several soft seating areas near the fireplace.Workers are welding the staircase that connects the first and second floors of the future Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab.The interior rooms and work spaces within the Innovation Lab are being outfitted with new ceiling tile.
Much of the work on floors 1 through 3 the past week or so has revolved around installing carpeting and grinding metal stair pieces for staircases that are currently closed to the public. The third floor, in particular, has made significant progress.
The main area of the third floor is looking great and will be ready for carpet soon. This area will be filled with collections and study areas.The west end of the third floor is now carpeted. We love how the third floor hallway has a modern look but still includes exposed limestone from the 1955 stacks addition!
It’s been an unusual summer here at the Libraries and K-State for certain, but we are excited to have students back in Hale Library and hope they fall in love with the new spaces as much as we have.
A worker on a lift works begins to paint the wall surrounding one of the murals in the Great Room. The murals will be fully restored, with work starting this upcoming semester.
Spring is in full swing and we’re excited to share pictures of how things are growing at Hale Library!
Many projects are being fleshed out further and some spaces, including the Great Room, Joyce and Joe’s Cornerstone Café and the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab are visibly coming together. The Innovation Lab in particular is starting to take shape as crew members install drywall and create the rooms that will house technologies new to the library and campus.
Various kitchen equipment has been installed in the cafe including refrigerators and reach-in coolers. With the counters now installed as well, this space is really coming together!
The Innovation Lab will be available to all students, staff and faculty at K-State, giving them access to new technologies such as digital media production, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, immersive digital environments and other emerging innovations. The lab will be located on the first and second floors of the library with a staircase connecting the two spaces.
The space also will include 14 3D printers, a Glowforge laser cutter and a studio that will allow users to record high-quality video with a single touch of a button. Two of the 3D printers will be FormLab SLA printers; these printers use ultraviolet light to create a strong but flexible resin often used for healthcare or engineering materials. The remaining 12 Ultimaker printers create materials by stacking melted material layer by layer.
Jahvelle Rhone, the media coordinator for the Media Center, holds a newly 3D-printed face shield. Jahvelle and the K-State Digital Fabrication Club have been using 3D printers to create these face shields for local healthcare workers.The whole family has been helping Jahvelle! Here, Jahvelle, his four children and his wife TeAndre show off the face shields they’ve been making. The DigiFab club has made more than 175 face shields so far to help local healthcare workers stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be the new digital media lab. This space will be filled with computers containing various software including the same software that Disney animators use to create their works.This space located on the second floor of the Innovation Lab will host our 3D print lab with 14 3D printers.
The virtual reality room will allow visitors to explore their projects using 3D technology. For example, an architecture student would be able to view a 3D rendering of a building project as if it were right in front of them.
Three large screens will be installed in the virtual reality room on the first floor. In this picture, the pale yellow wall in the middle will hold the middle screen.Work continues on the one-button studio, which will allow users to record high-quality video with a single touch of a button.
Crew members are continuing plaster work on the Great Room and installing light fixtures. With every new day, the space is looking more and more trim and polished!
The pink material on the walls in the Great Room is a special bonding material that allows for better bonding between plaster and plaster, or concrete and concrete.Several crew members focus on repairing plaster in the Great Room.The white cylinders on the ground are actually ceiling lights for the Great Room; they sure do look bigger when they’re on the ground!
We hope you enjoy seeing the progress in Hale Library as much as we do, and we are thrilled that we are able to obtain regular photos to share with the K-State community. Our next blog post will be an extra special one, as we look at the immense amount of progress that has been made since the Hale Library fire nearly two years ago. Stay tuned!
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.
Hale Library’s first floor looks less like a skating rink and more like the beautiful home of the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons these days. Don’t miss the latest photos of the workers and spaces! We see in these images a promise of Hale Library’s bright future.
Doors will open to the first floor early in the fall semester, and the second floor will open spring 2020. The entire building will be complete by the end of 2020!
A worker lit by the glow of a laser line level measures the area where a row of white boards will be mounted. The limestone facade, which is the exterior wall of the 1950s addition, will still be visible around the margin of the white boards. July 16, 2019. A worker on stilts muds the drywall ceiling in front of the future Everitt Learning Commons white board wall. July 23, 2019.The former 24-hour study space will serve as a presentation and meeting room eventually. This fall it will be filled with tables and chairs, though, in order to meet the demand for more centrally located study spaces on campus. July 16, 2019. This large stretch of space will soon feature reserveable study rooms. The Hale Family Cornerstone Cafe will be located immediately next to this space. We can’t wait to see the menu when they open this spring! July 16, 2019. A crew member installs ceiling grid in the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons. July 16, 2019. Two men mud the drywall by the sunflower entrance at Hale Library’s southeast corner. The doors at left will open this fall into the new Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons. July 23, 2019. A crew member installs flooring: Goodbye concrete shell, hello gorgeous carpet in lovely saturated tones of gray and purple! July 23, 2019.Meanwhile, up one level, demolition continues in order to make way for a fresh new second floor, opening spring 2020! July 16, 2019.The space by Hale Library’s main second floor gates await new flooring, new entryway framing and much more. Opening spring 2020! July 16, 2019.
Thank you to University Photo Service’s Tom Theis, who took most of these amazing photos!
It’s a new era in Hale Library. When Associate Dean Mike Haddock goes into the building to document construction these days, he’s coming out with more and more photos of clean, white drywalled spaces and fewer and fewer of rubble and demolition.
The Dave and Ellie Everitt Learning Commons on first floor is taking shape. Things are progressing on schedule, so we aim to open the doors by the first day of fall semester 2019!
Looking toward the south windows on first floor, June 10. The area in front of the windows will be furnished with groupings of soft seating for relaxed group study. Workers on an aerial lift in Hale Library’s first floor space, June 3, 2019.
The photos below were taken from the same first-floor spot at the bottom of the stairs about 18 days apart.
Looking toward the east end of the first floor and the old location of Einstein Bros., May 23. Looking toward the east end of the first floor and the old location of Einstein Bros., June 10. First floor looking southwest from stairs, June 10. This area will be filled with reservable group study rooms. First floor looking toward Sunflower Entrance, June 3.Looking west on Hale Library’s first floor with the doors to the sunflower entrance at left, June 10.First floor looking west, June 3.
Meanwhile, up on second floor, demolition continues. Ceiling tiles, drywall, pipes and ductwork have been torn out to clear the way for clean new walls like those you saw in the photos above.
Even the security gates came down.
Removing the security gates, June 3.Rubble on the site of the old main floor Help Desk, May 23.More demolition immediately west of the old Help Desk, May 28.Workers use a jackhammer and a crowbar to remove the reddish-brown tile out of the loggia entrance on Hale Library’s main floor, June 4.
The renovation doesn’t just affect Hale Library’s external surfaces. Haddock recently captured this photo of wiring sitting in a rusted-out electrical box. It’s a reminder that the damage wasn’t just cosmetic: Improvements are taking place at every level, at every turn.
When Hale reopens in phases starting this fall, that means improved infrastructure, including more electrical outlets and better wi-fi.
A year ago if you walked through the building after the fire, you would have experienced varying degrees of destruction. Today, you’ll find varying degrees of progress.
The building renovation is moving forward in phases — and moving quickly.
In the mechanical room on Hale Library’s roof, crews have replaced the old, damaged ceiling that covered one of the fourth-floor stairwells. From left to right, photos were taken on April 29, May 2, May 6 and May 14.
The penthouse that houses new heating and cooling units got a coat of paint recently.
Crews paint the exterior of the penthouse on Hale’s roof. Only a few weeks ago, the structure looked like a plywood lean-to with plastic sheeting covering the doors and windows. May 17, 2019. New air handling units have replaced the old ones that were badly damaged in the fire. April 29, 2019.
Inside, the mechanical equipment is in place and ready to go online so the many, many work crews in the oldest portions of the building will be able to work in an air-conditioned environment this summer.
As Hutton Construction superintendent Mike Watkins showed us recently though, behind the clean white walls, there are still traces of the fire.
Watkins stands inside the penthouse and shines a flashlight into the space where the fire-damaged Great Room ceiling is still visible. May 17, 2019.
Meanwhile, on the first floor, the future home of the Dave and Ellie Everitt Learning Commons is taking shape. It seems less like a cavernous concrete rolling rink and more like a space that will be ready to welcome students for the fall semester.
At left, a photographer and videographer from local media outlets document construction workers on Hale Library’s first floor. May 17, 2019.Crew members work on mudding the newly installed drywall in the corridor at the west end of Hale Library’s first floor. May 20, 2019.
On second floor, demolition is in mid-stride and the space is scheduled to open for the spring semester.
On the north side of the building behind the old Library Help desk, piles of duct work and metal framing are separated from the rest of the debris so they can be recycled. May 20, 2019.
Things are moving so quickly that we have a window of opportunity. If we’re going to incorporate enhancements that will make the new Hale Library an improved environment for students, we need to raise additional funds now.
Insurance will cover like-for-like replacement costs, but when it comes to making Hale better than it was, we’ll have to rely on private dollars. More reservable study rooms, more classrooms or even more outlets to accommodate students’ innumerable electronic devices: Those will have to be funded above and beyond insurance dollars.
Crews have removed damaged drywall from librarian offices on the west end of the second floor. May 20, 2019.
At every turn there’s another space in which the old, damaged materials have been cleared to make way for the new.
Piles of floor tile debris sit near the emergency exit doorway closest to the English Department Building. May 14, 2019.
Plenty of old things are staying, though. For example, not all of the furniture was a total loss. Some of the salvaged tables are currently stored on the second floor in Historic Farrell Library, the 1927 portion of the building.
Dozens of wooden tables are safely stacked in the former IT offices on second floor. Since the porous plaster walls in this space are still drying out, no construction activity is scheduled for this part of the building. May 6, 2019.
Where are the books? Most of the 1.5 million items are in storage units in the old limestone caves under Kansas City.
The 1955 stacks are dark and mostly empty. Some levels are filled with salvaged shelving and office furniture. May 6, 2019.
However, the cleaning process is ongoing. All of those boxes of materials are rotated through our facility near the Manhattan Regional Airport. They come in soot-stained, and they’re unboxed, individually cleaned by hand one at a time, and treated in the ozone chamber. Then they’re reboxed and sent back to a storage unit filled with clean boxes.
Workers use chem sponges and vacuums to remove soot residue from Hale Library materials. April 29, 2019.
At this point, more than 65 percent of our Hale Library collection is clean.
With projects moving forward on so many fronts — book cleaning, construction on first, demolition on second and more — we’ll be providing frequent building updates over the summer.
If you’d like to provide some Help for Hale in support of some of these efforts, please visit the KSU Foundation’s online giving page for Hale Library renovations.
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!
It isn’t often you get to make a fresh start, but this week my fellow K-State Libraries employees and I cast off the old in a Marie Kondo ritual of sorts.
After the fire, everything salvageable in our sodden and soot-stained offices was boxed up and moved into storage. We were all assigned new offices in one of ten different buildings across campus and—each according to our unique circumstances and job changes—began navigating a post-fire existence.
We all reacted and adapted in our own ways.
The same held true this week as we took turns visiting a storage facility near the Manhattan Regional Airport to sift through the boxes from our Hale Library offices that have been packed away for almost a year.
At left, Kay Rieder, a restoration specialist with Belfor Property Restoration, meets with K-State Libraries employees Robin Brown, Kendra Spahr, Jesica Sellers and Sara Kearns in the staging area where they opened their boxes. April 29, 2019.
Staff members had to decide which work-related possessions they wanted to have cleaned and which items weren’t worth saving.
Some employees found the process liberating. “Man, I should have gotten rid of that paper a long time ago,” academic services librarian Sara K. Kearns said, after offloading arm loads of files destined for the shredder.
Others—especially those who have worked in Hale Library for decades—felt a renewed sense of loss.
Most librarians I spoke with said that they had already retrieved the possessions that were most important to them when we were allowed in the building for the first time on May 30, 2018.
Just a week after the fire, we signed in with security, donned hardhats and solemnly filed through the dark, hot library carrying our flashlights. While we navigated puddles, sagging ceiling tiles and random debris, I was in disbelief at the amount of damage we found around every corner.
K-State Libraries faculty and staff members prepare to enter Hale Library to retrieve personal belongings. May 30, 2018.
In my third floor office cubicle, I grabbed framed photos, artwork, and a two-drawer wooden card catalog that sat on my desk. At the last minute, I stacked a potted plant on top of my armload.
Those few belongings went home with me. The plant—now thriving—sits on my refrigerator, where it gets a lot more sun than it ever did in 313 Hale Library.
Office cubicles in the information technology area on second floor were especially hard-hit with water damage. June 11, 2018.
Some offices were in much worse condition than mine, and those library employees salvaged very little.
“It was pretty surreal visiting the office for the first time after the fire,” librarian Melia Fritch said. “The most disturbing thing was going into to our office and feeling like FEMA had been through since there were these orange spray-painted words like ‘demo’ all over the walls. That was weird.”
Memories of that first post-fire visit came into focus this week as I watched my coworkers open their boxes.
Kearns recovered dozens of books that will be treated in the ozone chamber to eliminate the smell of smoke before she reclaims them. After making quick work of her paper files, she opened several long, flat packages wrapped in cardboard.
Two of them turned out to be prints she bought in Japan while visiting her brother.
Kearns smiles as she shows us art she hadn’t expected to recover. April 29, 2019.
“These were on the wall that water absolutely poured down when it drained from third floor to our offices on the second floor,” she said. “I can’t believe they aren’t covered in mold. They’re grimy and they need to be cleaned, but they’re totally fine.”
Senior graphic designer Tara Marintzer approached the process wondering if she’d have similar surprises. “It’s a mystery. I have no idea what I’ll find or whether there’s anything even worth saving.”
Kearns and Kendra Spahr sift through boxes of paperwork. “There’s something in here called a ‘facsimile,'” Spahr joked. April 29, 2018.
“After the fire, my new plan was to be more digital,” Marintzer added. “No more paper files.”
In all, nearly 1,000 boxes of office contents were packed out of Hale Library. The recovery crews that boxed up employee belongings didn’t always know what belonged to whom, so there has been some confusion along the way.
Kearns opened up one box marked with her name and said, “I have no idea who anyone is in these photos. This isn’t mine.”
A coworker glanced over and recognized that the images were of Kristin Hersh, lead singer of Throwing Muses, so then we knew that the box must belong to librarian Thomas Bell, who writes about the history of rock and roll. Gradually, the boxes that remain will make their way back to their rightful owners.
For employees who had a lot to sort through, decision fatigue set in.
Jason Bengtson, head of information technology services, sorts through a box while Sellers waits to check it off of the inventory list. May 1, 2019.
“I had 80 boxes to open,” Kathryn Talbot, preservation coordinator, said. “By the end, I was throwing things out a lot faster.”
As I write this, I haven’t had my turn yet to open the boxes. I don’t know what I’ll find, but I can’t think of anything that I miss.
It’s a good reminder of the most important things about the fire, though: There were no lives lost. There weren’t any injuries. Everyone came out safe.
Most things can be replaced, or—in the case of Hale Library’s interior—rebuilt so they’re even better than they were before.
When it’s time for the K-State Libraries employees to move back into our offices a few years from now, we’ll be traveling a little bit lighter. A lot of us will be working more digitally, less physically.
And, in a place of honor, my future Hale Library space will feature a healthy spider plant survivor.
Darchelle Martin and Sarah McGreer Hoyt walk out of the storage facility each carrying a single box of things they wanted to keep. May 1, 2019.
Postscript: I went through my boxes a few days after I initially wrote this post. It felt good to offload “stuff” and think instead about the ways in which working at K-State Libraries still sparks joy.
The Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons opens in fall 2019. We’re so excited, we’ve done everything we can short of scaling Anderson Hall to shout it from the rooftop spire. This week we talked to the Hutton Construction superintendents in charge of making it happen.
Mike Watkins and Curt Miller, Hutton Construction superintendents, on Hale Library’s first floor. April 23, 2019.
Mike Watkins has been in construction for 17 years, including a stints working for a general contractor and as an iron worker. This isn’t his first time on the K-State campus: He worked on the Justin Hall renovation and addition in 2011.
Watkins speaks to the Illuminating Engineering Society about the Hale Library renovation project. The group took a tour of the building this week. April 23, 2019.
Curt Miller has been working in the construction field a bit longer.
“I started parking cars when I was 16 for $1.60 an hour,” Miller said. “Then I got a job working on a bridge deck wielding a 90 pound jackhammer. That paid $3.20 an hour.”
One day while he was on the job, Miller said he saw the man on the job site sitting in a pickup and told his coworkers, “I want that guy’s job.”
Miller says the historical preservation elements of the Hale Library project appeal to him. At one time, he owned a contracting business specializing in historic renovations. April 23, 2019.
He was superintendent on a small project by the time he was 21.
Both say that most of the jobs they work on are new construction and remodels; they don’t often work on buildings after a disaster. Because of the fire, the Hale Library project has required them to deal with a lot more remediation than they normally would. They’re used to dealing with asbestos, but in Hale Library they’ve had to remediate old lead paint, plus smoke and soot contaminants, too.
Of course, not all jobs are this large, either. In order to manage work throughout the 400,000-plus square feet, they have a third short-term superintendent, plus five foremen who report directly to them. Additionally, there are approximately seven or eight sub-contractors and as many as 100 workers in Hale Library on any given day.
A construction worker uses a remote-controlled mini excavator with a jackhammer attachment to tear out concrete on the first floor. April 23, 2019.
“It’s a big job,” Miller said. “But I think we have a pretty good team dynamic.”
They say that the penthouse that covers the new roof-top HVAC units has been the biggest challenge so far.
“We had to build a roof over the old roof to protect the library’s fourth floor from the weather,” Watkins said. “Then we removed the old roof and installed the floor. In a normal job, you’d start from the ground up.”
While Hale Library’s users might not find the mechanical room an exciting part of the renovation, the process of watching it come together has been fascinating.
The timeline to get the first floor done by fall 2019 is also challenging.
A typical remodel would have more time built into the front-end for the design process. With the Hale Library renovation, the schedule is compressed, and plans are evolving constantly. It requires the superintendents and their teams to remain flexible and patient.
Watkins also said it will be critical to get the “smarts and parts” in time 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.
What are some of the things coming up that Watkins and Miller say we should be looking forward to?
A worker jackhammers out damaged tile in the first floor sunflower entryway. April 15, 2019.
They’re almost done with the first floor demolition, and then the framing will get underway.
They’re also working hard to get the rooftop air handlers online by May 1. Once they’re in the penthouse and functioning, they’ll help keep Farrell Library cool this summer. It will also help with air flow through the oldest parts of the building where they are working to lower the humidity and dry out the plaster.
While we were visiting with Watkins and Miller, we ran into K-State Student Ambassadors Tel Wittmer and Maddy Mash taking their own Hale Library tour, and we asked them what they thought.
Maddy Mash and Tel Wittmer on the roof of Hale Library withe the spire of Anderson Hall in the background. April 23, 2019.
“I think students are going to love all of the different types of study spaces,” Mash said. “And it will be great to have more natural light. That’s really exciting, too.”
Mash and Wittmer will be traveling across Kansas this year to talk about everything K-State, and now they’re prepared to answer questions about Hale Library.
If our readers have any questions for us or for Hutton Construction superintendents Mike Watson and Curt Miller, leave them in the comments!
Today’s Hale Library is cavernous, dimly lit, dusty and loud. Showers of sparks fly as work crews weld new pipes in place. A jackhammer clanks and stutters as they remove damaged entryway tiles.
Tomorrow’s Hale Library? It will be welcoming, well-lit and comfortable.
Having a hard time picturing it? Maybe this will help:
Right now on the first floor, workers on aerial lifts install new pipes and duct work. Metal studs cover the limestone facade of the 1955 stacks addition.
But when the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons opens on Hale Library’s first floor in fall 2019, this wall will be partially covered by white board surfaces, offering plenty of room for students to study and collaborate.
Sections of the limestone will remain uncovered, though. It’s one of the many ways the renovated Hale Library will deliver new, needed amenities for students while honoring the building’s long history.
We can picture it already–the return of the marathon white board study sesh:
Students take a break from studying for their Human Body final, December 2017.
And students will be able to access those white boards at all hours of the day because–drumroll please!–the Dave and Ellie Everitt Learning Commons will be open 24/7.
We’ll be able to close the first floor off from the rest of the building so that students can have the study space they need when they need it–even if that’s at 3:00 a.m.
Damaged sections of drywall have been removed from the old white board study area on second floor, and it’s ready for a revamp. April 15, 2019.
When the second floor opens in spring 2020, it will feature a similar white board wall.
The first and second floors of the 1927 building, Historic Farrell Library, will open during one of the last phases. When they do open, though, the amazing natural light and plaster work will take center stage.
Previously, few Wildcats ventured into these rooms as they were densely packed with collections and office cubicles.
In the renovation, they’ll be transformed into public gathering spots. The second floor (shown above) will feature current periodicals and plenty of comfortable seating.
The second floor of Historic Farrell Library has been cleaned out and is ready for its rebirth as our campus’s new living room. Previously, it was home to staff cubicles. April 15, 2019. Wood salvaged from Historic Farrell Library sits on the first floor of the 1927 building. It will be reused throughout the renovated Hale Library. April 15, 2019.
Directly below that living room space, the first floor of the 1927 building will include the same comfortable seating plus juvenile literature and curriculum materials, some of our highest use collections.
And for those of you wondering about food and drink options, rest assured that the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons will include an exciting new dining venue.
Named in honor of the Hale Family, the new café area will feature a warm, welcoming seating area with wood details salvaged from Historic Farrell Library. Visitors will be able to choose from a variety of settings in which to enjoy a meal or a cup of coffee, including comfortable lounge chairs situated around a large two-sided fireplace, a feature frequently requested by students.
We look forward to sharing more photos as these spaces come to life. If you have questions about the planned space, ask them in the comments section.
And if you’d like to help make the future of Hale Library a reality, visit our Help for Hale webpage or contact Chris Spooner, KSU Foundation Associate Vice President of Development Programs, at 785-775-2130 or chriss@ksufoundation.org.
The walls came tumbling down on Hale Library’s first floor last week! We have even more great shots of the demolition and the dramatic progress going on behind that purple construction fence.
A light in the old vending machine alcove shines through a newly created opening in that space’s north wall. The wall at left featuring a large bank of windows blocked off the sunflower entryway from the rest of the first floor. Associate Dean Mike Haddock did his best Wreck-It Ralph impersonation on the wall that separated the sunflower entrance from the rest of the first floor. Associate Dean Sheila Yeh takes a whack at the wall. Construction workers lower a large section of drywall and metal framing to the ground after creating an opening between the sunflower entrance doors and the rest of the first floor. A construction worker throws a section of metal framing on a pile of debris. They are recycling all of the materials that they can.Two construction workers wheel out a window pane that allowed visitors at the sunflower entrance to look into the first floor but prevented them from walking into the space. As of this week, the entire wall is gone and the sunflower entrance opens directly into the first floor. This will be the main entryway for the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons, which will open fall 2019. A view of the sunflower entrance from inside the first floor. Note that the alcove where the vending machines were has also been removed.
A construction worker uses a remote-controlled mini excavator to pull down duct work in front of the first floor elevators.
The entire first floor has been opened up, and the walls that separated Einstein Bros. Bagels from the rest of the space are gone. A new cafe area named for the Hale Family will be constructed closer to the Learning Commons entrance. When crews removed drywall from a wall behind the first floor librarian offices, they discovered a mural of Hale Library painted on the concrete block.
As the space opens up, we can more clearly envision what the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons will look like. Stay tuned! Next week we’ll share drawings from the architects at PGAV so you, too, can get a glimpse of Hale Library’s first floor in its fall 2019 state!
Demolition and construction are in full swing in Hale Library!
When we visited on Monday, March 26, more than 60 workers swarmed through the building.
On the first floor, they were stripping out drywall and tearing down walls in preparation for the creation of the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons, opening Fall 2019.
One feature of the Learning Commons? Improved access! If you’ve visited Hale Library, you know it has two exterior entrances: One at the end of a long ramp that originates at the southwest corner and one at the opposite end of the building near Mid-Campus Drive. The latter is called the sunflower entrance because of the wrought-iron sunflower sculpture above its doors.
Previously, when a visitor used the sunflower entrance, they came inside and encountered a wall of windows that blocked their access to the first floor. Instead, they had to climb the stairs or take an elevator to the second floor in order to enter through the main gates. Another trip down the stairs or the elevator was required to get back down to the first floor.
Unsurprisingly, this configuration baffled Hale Library’s visitors and first-time users (and frankly, even K-Staters who have been around for awhile).
Associate Dean Mike Haddock takes a swing at the wall that separated the sunflower entrance from the first floor.
But no more! This week, the wall came down. When Hale Library’s first floor reopens in fall 2019, visitors will walk through the sunflower entrance directly into the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons on Hale Library’s first floor.
That’s one small step for Associate Dean Haddock, one giant leap for future visitors to the Dave & Ellie Everitt Learning Commons! Haddock enters the first floor through the opening created during demolition.
Progress!
Meanwhile, on the third floor, workers are installing new duct work in the Great Room ceiling.
The new duct work will improve ventilation and heating and cooling throughout the oldest parts of the building. Workers wrap insulation around new duct work in the Great Room. A crew removes debris in the attic space immediately south of the Great Room, just above the Academic Learning Center.
Outside, on the north side of the building, scaffolding is going up in preparation for an imminent roofing project.
A crane is parked nearby on the south edge of the quad. It is maneuvering steel beams from the roof into a space above the fourth floor Academic Learning Center where the fire started.
The north side of Historic Farrell Library (the 1927 section of the Hale Library building). The crane extends over Historic Farrell Library’s roof and moves the beams through a gap in the penthouse wall, which is below and to the right of the crane’s lifting hook.
Since the crane operator on the ground can’t see over the building, the workers rely on communication via wireless radio to complete every step of the process.
A worker on Hale Library’s roof guides a steel beam into the penthouse and onto a winch system in the ceiling that moves the beam into place. Two steelworkers position the beam. Most of the walls are black from years of roofing tar, but in this photo, the wall behind the worker in the florescent yellow shirt was also blackened by the fire. Associate Deans Sheila Yeh and Mike Haddock look on.
From the outside, Hale Library appears quiet and empty. On the inside, it’s a different scene entirely. We look forward to bringing you more construction updates in the coming weeks.
Two workers clean debris from the attic space adjacent to the Great Room.
