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

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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

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detour (Continued from page 19) of those seats weren ' t high quality, Hobrock said. The project, which was expected to expand Farrell by 153,000 square feet, was scheduled to take 30 months, but the construction crew planned to have it done in 25 months, Hobrock said. Construction was scheduled to be finished by September 1996. In the meantime, the project created hassle for library employees. The renovation makes patrons have more questions, said Sonya Thompson, sophomore in secondary education and library student assistant. It ' s a little more work directing people because more people need help, she said. There is a lot more confusion about where things are at or where they should be. While renovations to Farrell were inconvenient for pedestrians, complex for designers and more work for library personnel, students were enthusiastic about the new opportunities the finished library would create. I ' m excited about the expansion, Bob Eichkorn, junior in pre-medicine, said. The renovations will provide students with a better-organized library where they can find information more readily. Arya Yarpezeshkan, junior in life sciences, was proud of the legacy the student body would leave. Our money is going to a project that future students will enjoy and benefit from, he said. Farrell wasn ' t the only campus location where construction projects rerouted traffic. The entrance to campus at 14th Street and Anderson Avenue was closed for construction of the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art. Nelson Britt, director of the museum, said upon completion, the Beach Art Museum would be a milestone that would set K-State and the surrounding community apart. The way I like to put it is that we will have a magnificent museum in a wonderful location on campus, Britt said. The museum, named for Marianna Kistler Beach of Hays, whose husband Ross donated $2 million to the project, was being built in the southeast corner of campus near Thompson Hall. The 25,000 square-foot museum would contain five galleries, a 140-seat assembly hall, large commons area, bookstore and cafe. While work on the art museum had just begun, construction on the Chester E. Peters Recreation Complex, a $7.8 million project, was almost complete. Slated for completion in summer 1995 after an estimated 18 months of expansion, the Rec Complex would have four more basketball courts, a 10,000 squarefoot weight room, an aerobic multipurpose room and a oneeighth-mile track for running and walking. Down the road from the Rec Complex, the Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center completion was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 14 after 15 years of planning. Phase one of construction began in 1979. The $18 million first phase was completed in 1981, Gary Paulsen, professor of agronomy, said. Phase two consisted of final construction of the Greenhouse Complex and Throckmorton. Throckmorton is a different kind of field of dreams, Pat Roberts, U.S. congressional representative from Kansas, said. It will attract the top scientists and students from around the world. At a cost of $27 million, Throckmorton expanded to 225,000 square feet. Autumn leaves cover the ground at the site of the future Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art. The 25,000 square-foot museum, which will be located east of Thompson Hall, will contain five galleries, a 140-seat assembly hall, a classroom and a large commons area. (Photo by Cary Conover) 20 construction