Ground breaks today for library expansion project

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Let the building begin!

The groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the beginning of the $50 million
expansion and renovation of CMU’s Charles V. Park Library will take place
at 10:30 a.m. this morning.

Thomas Moore, dean of Libraries, said activities will take place on the
lawn east of the library and everyone is invited.

"It really is a symbolic event. It’s a pretty important event, it
seems to me, in the life of CMU. It’s going to have a lot of effect for
the next couple generations," Moore said.

Moore said the renovation, deemed to be the largest construction project
in CMU’s history, will increase patron seats to 2,650, and there will
be more than 400 computer workstations and 1,500 network connections.
The project is slated to be completed by 2002.

Although the university has taken care to alleviate growing pains, within
the next two and a half weeks, students, faculty and staff will be faced
with new challenges for many months to come.

In February, construction on a steam loop near the east entrance of the
library began, blocking access into one of two entrances of the library,
said Mel Remus, director of plant engineering and planning for Facilities
Management.

And now, searching for library materials will be just that ­ a search.

Moore said reference materials, government documents, periodicals (journals
and magazines) and microforms will be relocated to Finch Fieldhouse, as
will librarians and off-campus library services staff. Study areas and
the majority of computer stations will be located in Finch as well.

In addition, study space and computer stations have been installed in
the Bovee University Center Down Under Food Court.

The Clarke Historical Library and the Michigan Historical review staff
will be relocated to the Rose/SAC complex.

Information technology staff will be relocated to Woldt and Foust halls
and to the College of Extended Learning’s new office building at the north
end of town.

But the move will not take place until classes are over.

"All the planning has gone very well. As it stands right now, we’re
set up to begin moving May 10, but it will take weeks to do that, we think,"
Moore said.

General collection books (non-journals and non-magazines), technical
services staff and the library administration will remain in the Park
Library building throughout the project.

Moore said the university will use Indiana-based Library Movers of America,
who were contracted as a result of a bid process. Moore said CMU did not
receive bids from anyone in Michigan.

In addition, Preston Apartments will be demolished to make room for the
expansion, forcing residents to move out by May 9, one day after commencement.

John Fisher, senior officer for Residence and Auxiliary Services, said
the decision to demolish Preston Apartments was made when CMU received
state funding for the expansion. The state will pay for $37.5 million,
while CMU will pay the remaining $12.5 million.

Liz Padilla, Mexico junior, said the prospects of finding an alternative
residence is not a problem for her because she and her roommate are going
back to Mexico anyway. However, Padilla said having to be packed and out
of her apartment so soon after classes end will be difficult.

"Packing is going to be a problem because we are just finishing
all of the homework and finals, so it’s going to be very soon for us.
But it’s OK."

Devika Chawla, India graduate student, said she and her roommate were
forewarned of the demolition.

"They told us when we signed the lease in the fall that these (apartments)
were going to be torn down, so we pretty much knew that," Chawla
said.

Toi McGlothin, Grand Rapids sophomore, said the move is kind of a big
deal because at first, she didn’t know where she was going to stay.

"But now I have a place to stay, so I’m really not worried about
moving," she said.

McGlothin will move to another campus apartment and said "most of
my stuff I can just transfer my things as they are. But I do have a problem
because it is Mothers’ Day and I would have liked to spend that day at
home with my mom instead of having to move my stuff."

All in all, Moore said everything is on schedule. "There’s a lot
of work by a lot of people getting us to this point and it’s just moved
very well."

Bids for the contractor are due to be opened in Lansing on May 5, Moore
said.

The library expansion project can be accessed at www.lib.cmich. edu.
and www.lib.cmich.edu/building/.