Surprises found in $70M Central Library renovation
St. Louis Business Journal - by Kelsey Volkmann
Date: Thursday, January 6, 2011, 2:43pm CST - Last Modified: Thursday, January 6, 2011, 3:27pm CST The former stack tower at Central Library has been gutted as part of a $70 million renovation.
The $70 million renovation of the Central Library in downtown St. Louis is six months in, and BSI Constructors has come across some surprises after digging into the century-old structure.
Construction workers have uncovered thick concrete that lacks reinforcements, steel beams that don’t match up with blue prints, complicated foundations, asbestos and lead.
Some of what workers encountered was expected, others not. “We were opening walls and floors to avoid surprises,” said Waller McGuire, St. Louis Public Library executive director, on a tour of the construction site with reporters Thursday. “Surprises in a century-old masterpiece are very expensive.”
The new details have moved back the estimated date for completion but the library will still open to the public as expected sometime in 2012 for its centennial year, McGuire said.
The two-year project, which is financed through $65 million in bonds from St. Louis, will still come in on budget, McGuire said. The St. Louis Public Library Foundation raised $12 million in 2010 for the project, $8 million away from its goal of $20 million.
Other surprises have been uncovered since work began in September, including a bank vault and a book from 1856 on female physiology that was hidden away because books of that nature weren’t displayed for the public, McGuire said.
For the first two months of the project, the library’s collection was unavailable as it was moved into temporary space, McGuire said. This prompted many calls from readers who were looking for but couldn’t find books on a particular subject area, such as genealogy. “It was painful for many people,” he said.
On Thursday’s tour, McGuire walked cameramen, photographers and reporters through the Great Hall, where marble has worn down to the concrete from 100 years of patrons walking to the main library desk. Light streamed in through floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows along a staircase. Everything is covered in construction dust.
The library’s former stack tower has been excavated down to the muddy bedrock but will eventually house an atrium and study space. The main floor will house reference and research materials, while downstairs will house popular fiction and nonfiction. The basement, which was never open to the public and instead housed a dark staff room, will house periodicals. A massive boiler room will become a 250-seat auditorium for lectures, shows and other public events.
As you can see from the photos, they're going to start fresh on this one. It's an attractive old building regardless, but was full of lead, asbestos and other unsafe elements. However, with a $70 million dollar renovations the center will be more user friendly and healthier too.
While it's only 6 months in you can see from some of these photos posted on the link below (the "plans" are copyrighted so I couldn't load them here for easier viewing) that the proposed changes will be a tremendous upgrade offering venues for concerts and lectures. Take a look at the "then & now".
Before and Proposed after of Central Library
