Starting the Brickwork

Even though it was a cold and cloudy day, the construction crew got working on the exterior brickwork today.  Loads of bricks were brought in, and scaffolding went up all around the exterior. 

Heres a photo of the bricks being brought in with a tractor:

These next few photos show the scaffolding around the building, and the brickwork being done.

You can tell from these photos how great the new brickwork is going to look! They've done a fantastic job in finding brick that matches the existing building.  Once its finished, the new addition will blend in perfectly with the older, existing library.

New Windows

It was a momentous day today!  The construction crew began installing the windows.  Here's a few pictures:

Here's the crew working on the window in the new Staff Processing Room.

This is another angle of them working on the Staff Processing Room window.  You can see the Tabernacle outside.

This last photo shows the crew working on the west window in the new Community Room.  You can see the back of Madison Jr. High behind them.

These windows are so large, and there are so many of them, the interior of the new library will be very bright and beautiful!

Changes in the Staff Room

The second week of March has seen some big changes to the current Staff Processing area.  Our staff door and break room window have been taken out. Also, the old room that housed the book drop has been dismantled.  Here are a few "before" and "after" pictures that show these changes.

These are the before and after shots of the door.  You can see the wall to the book drop room on the back side of the refridgerator.  Here's what it looked like from the older side of the building:

Here's what the door looked like from the new construction side:

They also removed the little room that used to house the book drop.  Here's what the staff room looks like now:

 

Exterior Gets Weatherized

With the sunny days we've had, the crew has been progressing right along.  Here are a few pictures showing the exteriors of the new addition with the weather wrap on.

This first photo shows the new main entrance to the library, and the new Community Room.  You can see how much of the exterior walls are completed, and the weather wrapping around the Community Room.

I took a little outside tour along 1st North to see the scope of the new building. Here you can see how the new addition is connecting to the old building.  The atrium roof is peeking out over the older building.  I'm so glad we were able to save the mature tree in the parking!

This last photo is looking from the new addition back onto the older building.  You can just see the Tabernacle roof behind the building.  From this angle, the new addition looks huge!

Interiors Get Insulation and Drywall

Work on the interior is moving right along!  The weatherization materials and insulation are being installed.  Here are a few pictures of the work being done right now.

The insulation is going up in the atrium.  Its kind of fun to watch them lift the insulation pieces up to the top of the atrium.

Here is a picture of the weatheriszation materials along the north wall.  This photo looks west down through what will be the Young Adult and Junior sections of the library.

The drywall has also arrived and is in the process of being installed. This next photo shows the drywall up in the new Junior Activity Room.

They've also put drywall inside the lighting fixtures.  This photo shows a close-up of one in the Junior area.

This next photo shows the drywall leaning up against the sides of the framing waiting to be installed.  This picture is looking east from the Junior Activity Room back to the old part of the library.

In other parts of the building, the drywall is still waiting to be installed.  The next picture shows the drywall waiting in the Community Room.

This photo shows drywall waiting to be installed in the new Staff Processing area.

First Tour of the New Library Wing!

On January 29, 2010, the new interior is ready to show!  Most of the walls have been studded in, and its much easier to envision how the new wing will look when it's completed. A few of the library staff and I are going to take you on a virtual tour.  We'll start at the front door, then head west through the staff areas, turn north through the Community Room and the Junior Activity Room, before heading back east through the Young Adult Area back to the old library.

Here's some photos to show the new areas:

This photo shows the new front door area.  We're standing in the atrium area looking to the south.  To the right in this picture is where the new check-in area will be.  There will be a big glass wall so that patrons can watch the new sorting equipment process the books and other library materials.

The following photo shows the new atrium:

We've backed up a few steps and are looking south west.  You can see Anette, one of our librarians.  She's standing in front of where the new Library Foundation Book Store will be, by the yellow door that was south of the old west entrance. 

For our next photo, we've turned to the right and walked east into what will be the new staff and processing area.

Here we see Robin, another of our librarians, standing in front of what will be the east wall of the staff area. Behind him will be staff restrooms and the storage closet for the new Community Room.

We've now walked to the east through the hallway that will lead from the staff area into the new Community Room.

Here we've turned around and are facing east.  We see two of our librarians, Anette and Valerie, walking through the hallway.  Behind them, you can see the new staff area, and the wall to the new circulation desk.

Our tour now takes us west again, into the new Community Room.

This photo shows the north west corner of the new Community Room.  The doorway you see will lead to a small kitchenette area.  You can also see how high the raised ceiling will be, letting in lots of light!

Now we turn right once again, and head north through a hallway, past the new public restrooms, and into the new Junior area. 

This photo is looking into the new Junior Activity Room.  We're standing in the northwest corner of the new building, but this photo is actually looking to the south west corner of the Junior Activity Room.  The metal structures you see on the ceiling will house lighting fixtures.

We're almost ready to head back to the older section of the building.  This next photo shows the scope of the new addition:

We've made a 180 degree turn, and are now facing directly east.  The Junior Activity Room is directly behind us.  This view is looking through the Junior and Young Adult areas of the library, past the staff areas (on the right) and back towards the older part of the building.  The sunlight you see on the floor up in the distance is coming in through the clerestory windows of the atrium.

While most of the snow has been removed from the interior of the new construction, a great deal of ice has remained.  The construction crew has worked to get it all broken up and shoveled out, using blowtourches and heaters.

This is a pile of ice chips left behind in the Young Adult Area.

This next photo shows the housing for the lights in the Young Adult Area.

We're looking up, and to the north east (more north than east).  The lights will be quite elaborate, and will hang above and below the ceiling on different levels.  They'll also have the capacity to change colors.

Now we're back to where our tour began.

We've walked through the Young Adult Area, past the new staff and processing areas, and are standing in the atrium once again.  We're looking to the north east.  The yellow double doors you see were the old staff entrance that was to the immediate south of the old book drop.

I hope you've enjoyed your tour of the new addition! As you can see, things are shaping up very nicely.  I'm looking forward to being able to show you continued updates as the interior work progresses.

Putting on the Roof

On January 25th, the construction crew began to put the roof boards on.  They used the big crane to get the boards to the roof.  Here's a few pictures -

Then the crew pulled the boards in place.  It was quite a process to watch!

Here's a photo showing the amount of snow that had fallen in through the atrium into the interior of the new library:

Now with the new roof going up, the crew won't have to fight the snow so much.