The massive expansion and renovation of Perkins Library began with little fanfare over spring break and will continue, pending final approval in May by the Board of Trustees, for as many as six years.
Contractors have fenced off a region between the current library building, the adjacent Languages Building and the Tel-Com building on Circuit Drive, and are digging a trench to prepare utility and wiring work for phase one of the "Perkins Project."
"What is going on now is very much a preliminary preparation for the project," said Robert Byrd, chair of the Perkins Library Renovations Committee and assistant University librarian.
Workers need to relocate a fiber optic duct currently in the area and begin dropping utility lines, Byrd said. They began digging on the main academic quad over spring break to try to alleviate some of noise of the work during class time and are now working their way toward the Tel-Com Building.
However, the accompanying noise and slight detour on the walk toward the upper academic quad are just the tip of the iceberg of the intense disturbances that the renovations are expected to yield in the first phase, which could be completed as early as March 2006.
At a Duke Student Government meeting earlier this semester, Tom Wall, director of public services for Perkins, told student legislators that the work would be loud, disruptive and inconvenient for library users, but that library officials would be working closely with students and faculty members to alleviate concerns and eliminate any unnecessary disturbances.
Before the main renovations begin, however, the Board of Trustees must give its final stamp of approval to the plans, and local government agencies must sign off on permits and codes, Byrd said.
An official groundbreaking ceremony, originally scheduled for April 24, when the Library Advisory Board is on campus, has been canceled, and a planned May start date is now likely to be postponed until June or July.
Executive Vice President Tallman Trask said there are still some funding issues to be resolved, including securing an additional $15 to 20 million. The entire initiative, designed by the architectural firm of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, is projected to cost at least $50 million.
The first phase of construction involves building a new, five-story structure behind the Old Chemistry Building. Once that is complete, the first floor of the current library will be renovated. This ground floor renovation will include moving technology services, freeing up a significant amount of space.
In the renovated library, the ground floor will contain a coffee shop comparable to the Perk and a computer cluster; the top floors will be used for library administrative offices.
The area between the Languages Building and Perkins will be converted into a glass-covered pavilion.
The second phase of the plan calls for the renovation of older portions of the library, while the third includes the renovation of the second through fourth floors of the 1968 addition to the building.
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