Written by: Heidi Burke
On Friday, Feb. 2, after nearly two years of development, both doors of McKee Library’s $2 million updated entrance opened to the public.
The school obtained permits to begin construction on April 1, 2022, with the goal to improve the “old and dated” entrance, explained Marty Hamilton, associate vice president for Financial Administration.
“The old portico was kind of 1970s-era looking,” he said. “The challenge was, how do we modernize the building with this architecture that’s hard to work with?”
After the Bietz Center opened, the library’s entrance looked especially aged in comparison, stated Hamilton in a previous Accent article.
“Over the [years], SAU’s campus has gone through numerous transformations – most recently, the remodel of Summerour Hall and the construction of the Bietz Center,” wrote Deyse Bravo, director of libraries, in an email to the Accent. “Nestled between those two new buildings, it was clear that the library needed a facelift.”
But the need to improve the library entrance was more than aesthetic, according to Dan Ford, manager of large construction projects on campus.
“This porch area was developing some structural defects due to being built on poor underlying soil types,” Ford said in an email to the Accent. “The roof was shot, and there were grading issues that needed to be addressed. The width of the promenade also needed to be improved in that area.”
All of these issues made the update a necessity, according to Bravo.
In a previous Accent article, Hamilton expressed hope that the entrance would be completed by December of 2023. However, unforeseen challenges caused the project to drag on. The pandemic caused shortages and price spikes in materials, which delayed building. Additionally, the small amount of space made the actual construction portion difficult.
“We got kicked by COVID,” Hamilton said.
The size of the entrance area also proved a challenge.
“We couldn’t get contractors to work because there’s too tight [a space],” he added. “So we had electricians who come in, and plumbers, and it’s constantly switching.”
Ford agreed that the tight working space was the most difficult challenge and cited other logistical issues, including the safety concerns of having “pedestrian traffic so close by” and the struggle to work with the “large pieces of precast concrete” used on the roof.
According to Bravo, the difficulties surrounding the project were not just related to outside construction.
“During construction, there were times when elements of nature infiltrated the library space,” Bravo said. “We had a bird in here twice, and even a baby snake. We also had some water come in. On one occasion, sparks from welding work were coming into the library through the cracks of the plywood that separated the construction zone from the rest of the library.”
However, despite all these difficulties, the library entrance door facing the Bietz Center opened to the public on Jan. 5, with the second door following in a little less than a month.
Hamilton described the dedication service, which included a small gathering of administration and donors, as a “nicely done” event.
When asked for a final word about the update, Hamilton encouraged students, staff and other library patrons to visit the library and see the update for themselves.
“Come see the library because it’s been freshened up,” he said. “It’s rejuvenated. It sparkles.”