Work on a $8.25 million renovation and maintenance project for
Renne Library, one of the most utilized buildings on the campus
of Montana State University, will begin by the end of the month,
university officials said today.
The long-anticipated project was given the green light this week
with the award of the remodeling contract to Edsall Construction
of Bozeman. Plans call for a large-scale renovation and
modernization project as well as improvement of deferred
maintenance deficiencies. The project is expected to be completed
in 18 months.
Library officials have been lobbying several years for the
project, which they say is sorely needed to update a facility
built for half the number of students MSU has today. The entrance
portion of Renne Library was completed in 1962. The older portion
of the library was built in 1948. The 1999 Montana Legislature
approved $7.5 million for the multi-phased project that has been
supplemented by additional funds for life safety improvement and
energy conservation measures, as well as private donations for
construction and furnishings.
"There will be a significant difference in the feel and look of
building by the time the students return to school in the fall,"
according to Jim Whaley, chief of design and construction for the
Architecture and Engineering section of the state's Department of
Administration.
"Basically, it will be a construction zone for next school year.
There is going to be inconvenience and noise. We look forward to
students' tolerance and will try to accommodate them to the
extent we can in order to make this project go."
The portion of the project most obvious to students will be a 15
percent increase in student seating capacity.
According to Cecilia Vaniman, university planner with MSU
Facilities Services, plans call for transforming the current
atrium area on the main floor into a contemporary reading lounge,
including a coffee bar and display area for student art.
"It'll be more of a 'Barnes and Noble' atmosphere," Vaniman said.
"A nice place to sit and read and study."
A similar transformation will occur on the current third floor of
the atrium, which will be infilled. The area has an existing
skylight, which will be located over a new student reading and
studying lounge.
The third floor of the older building, which has not been
available to students and was used for storage, will be remodeled
into five separate group-study seminar rooms and a student
reading area. There have been about $220,000 in private donations
for the project. A donation from Friends of the MSU Library will
furnish the recovered area, which will be a part of the first
phase of the project. A Montana Power gift will be used to
renovate the reference area, which is part of a later phase.
"We will create quality study space for future generations of MSU
students," said Patricia Denison, director of development for the
MSU Libraries.
Other segments of the first phase will include completion of the
records storage area, infill of the atrium and a new stairwell at
the north end of the older portion of the library.
The majority of the funding for the project will be used to bring
the building up to code and address life safety issues, Vaniman
said. Among those improvements is enhancement of fire alarms and
a sprinkler system, installation of energy-efficient lighting,
asbestos removal and fulfillment of ADA requirements.
The project was designed by CTA Architects of Billings, and many
of the architects and engineers that worked on the plans are
graduates of MSU. Architectural drawings of the remodel will be
available at the library.
Carol Schmidt
