Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

Page 20 text:

18 construction

Page 19 text:

the wall 17

Page 21 text:

a detour of progress by Annette Riedl and the Collegian staff At a cost of $7.8 million, additions to the Chester E. Peters Recreation Complex were slated for completion in summer 1995. Above: Two Farrell Library chairs were among items selected for removal. (Photos by Cary Conover and Todd Feeback) The $28 million expansion and renovation to Farrell Library began in March 1994. The project, located in the heart of campus, rerouted campus paths. The renovation doubled the library ' s shelving capacity and added 2,000 seats while maintaining a Gothic architectural style. (Photo by Cary) Conover) noisy construction sites, a lack of parking spaces and rerouted paths through campus were the result of multiple construction projects. The projects created building and bother as the University focused on meeting the growing needs of students and faculty. Inconvenience is the price of progress, Tom Rawson, vice president of administration and finance, said. The $28 million Farrell Library expansion and renovation caused campus paths to be rerouted. It ' s weird for people in residence halls because they have to walk all the way around, Lisa Grey, senior in secondary education, said. It irritated me that I couldn ' t walk down (Mid) Campus Drive. The project was expected to cost $28 million. Students contributed $5 million in student fees, $5 million came from private sources and $18 million was appropriated by legislation with the support of Gov. Joan Finney. Ideally, it would be better to build a new building, Brice Hobrock, dean of libraries, said. This is going to be one of the most complex projects ever done in Kansas. The design, Hobrock said, called for wrapping Farrell Library ' s exterior with a new lime-stone layer of Gothic and Romanesque details that harmonized with its campus surroundings. The collegiate Gothic style matches the original north section of the library with buildings like Willard Hall and the Putnam and Van Zile residence halls, Hobrock said. The library ' s new south and east Romanesque facades, with their arches and towers, will resemble Fairchild, Dickens and Holton halls. Some of the special features planned were a grand entry overlooking a garden terrace, a three-story main lobby, chandeliers and balconies on the third and fourth floors, study alcoves with electronic access, a five-story apse facing the east and restoration of the 1927 Gothic reading room. Renovations were expected to double shelving capacity and make the library more adaptable, Hobrock said. The renovations will make Farrell more flexible, open and wired to accommodate electronic advances, Hobrock said. The architects planned to expand student seating to 2,000 high quality seats, enabling the library to accommodate 10 percent of the student body. Before renovations, seating capacity was 850, and many (Continued on page 20) Construction workers dig near the south entrance of Willard Hall, working to complete the foundation of the Farrell Library addition. The Art Building, formerly located east of Farrell, was torn down to make space for the addition, which increased the total amount of seats from 850 to 2,000. (Photo by Cary Conover) construction 19