Entrance Switch Accomplished

The switch to the temporary main library entrance and access ramp on the Freret Street side of the library's 1st floor Learning Commons was accomplished as planned, with adjustments made during this past week to prepare for more students and faculty to return to the library after spring break. The switch was made now to make it possible for the eventual contractor for the project to erect perimeter fencing around the library immediately upon award of the construction contract, which is expected in April if there are no unforeseen delays. Cranes (including one to be located close to the former main entrance) and construction materials would be staged within the fenced security perimeter.

Construction bids were opened on March 5. A fast start would mean less disruption due to the construction next fall.

Temp Entrance Update: Switch to Begin Next Friday

Work to begin the switch to the temporary main library entrance and access ramp now constructed on the Freret Street side of the library's 1st floor Learning Commons is scheduled to commence Friday, March 22. Saturday, March 23, is expected to be the first full day with the temporary entrance in operation. The switch will begin on Friday when technicians begin to dismantle the security gate and gate counter at the current entrance. Then the gate and counter will be reinstalled near the temporary entrance. When this is complete, the new entrance will be opened and the present one closed. The present main entrance will be used only as an emergency exit until the construction staging area outside is cleared in the later stages of the two-year building project. There will be no disruption in scheduled library hours during the entrance switchover.

Construction Bid Issued

It's official. On Tuesday afternoon, January 15, the university posted a Request for Proposals (RFP) advertisement seeking qualified construction firms to submit bids to build the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library Build-back and Hazard Mitigation Project 5th and 6th floor addition. Proposals are due on February 19th. The date set for the switchover to the library's temporary main entrance is March 23 (the first weekend of Spring Break). Work on the temporary entrance has been completed. Under the current project timeline the construction contract is expected to be awarded in April. Perimeter fences will likely start to up around the library around the same time. Meanwhile, the two buildings slated for demolition behind the library on Zimpel Street were being torn down this week. Once these lots are cleared, they will become construction staging areas.

Temporary Entrance and Other Preliminary Steps

The construction project’s risk mitigation and security plan requires a “Falling Object Protection Area” that will fence off the perimeter of the Howard-Tilton building. The plan will temporarily relocate the library's main entrance and access ramp to the Freret Street side of its 1st floor Learning Commons area.

Work on the temporary entrance began in early October.  The current main entrance will continue to provide primary access to and exit from the building, until a switchover to the temporary entrance is made after the end of the fall 2012 exam period. The primary construction work on the 5th and 6th floor addition is expected to begin after Christmas.

Also in October, two lots owned by the university behind and on the west side of the Howard-Tilton building, at 7008 and 7016 Zimple Street, will be cleared and fenced off to be used for construction staging.

Another project preliminary to the construction will be a precautionary relocation of Latin American Library (LAL) rare collections. These materials in the LAL closed stacks area on the 4th floor will be relocated, likely beginning in December, to temporary secure shelving at the library’s off-site facility at 900 S. Jefferson Davis Parkway. Researchers will be able to use the material in a supervised reading room there.