Park Library door replacement near completion

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Six sets of sliding glass doors soon will replace push-bar glass doors as the Charles V. Park Library becomes accessible to people with disabilities.

The doors, installed while the building was being constructed, were technically ADA compliant, but were difficult to push open, depending on the air pressure inside the room.

“They were very difficult to open,” said Gerald Edgar, Libraries Business Services manager.

Despite the problems, Edgar said the university was still able to provide access.

“The manufacturer was down here through the final phases of construction, adjusting (the doors). That’s when we installed the buzzers; we were able to ensure we provided access.”

Edgar added that the university was interested in making sure all people could reach all parts of the library, regardless of whether the doors technically complied with ADA guidelines.

When it was discovered that the original doors could be difficult to push open, Edgar said the university installed buzzers outside those doors. When the buzzer was rung, an attendant could then get up and open the door.

“We looked into getting those doors with the blue buttons, so they would open with a button, but the frame of the doors wouldn’t allow for that kind of hardware,” Edgar said.

The new doors will automatically slide to the right when sensors indicate someone is standing in front of the doors, instead of swinging inward.

“The doors will automatically open. There won’t be an issue of pushing the door open or hitting the buzzer,” he said.

The new doors will replace older doors to the first floor of the Park Library, the Baber Room, the inner seating and Student Disability Services office corridor, the Clarke Historical Library and the Clarke Reading Room.

Edgar said he expects the project to be completed in two to three weeks. He said he didn’t know what the cost of the project would be.

However, Mel Remus, Facilities Management director of plant engineering and planning, said in an earlier interview that the cost would exceed $100,000.

The doors leading into the main building from the outside have always been ADA compliant, Edgar said. These doors have the blue-button system, which makes the door swing open if the button is pushed.