Third Floor Phase 1 Stacks Area Ceiling Work Completed, Onward to Phase 2

The contractor for the construction project has completed the installation of the fire suppression (sprinkler) system over the book shelves in the northwest quadrant of the 3rd floor. Plastic sheeting in this Phase 1 area of the 3rd floor stacks has now been completely removed.

Crews today began to cover the books stacks in the Phase II area, which is the southwest quadrant and the area that houses music books and scores.  Overall, the sprinkler installation project on the 3rd floor is proceeding roughly on schedule, with exceptions.

The primary exception is in the area straddling the two phases that includes classrooms 309, 308 and some adjacent offices. Work there is a few days behind due to the code-required removal of a portion of the flat ceiling in the hallway and above a small closet near the Innovative Learning Center (ILC)/Center for Library User Education (CLUE) receptionist’s desk; this is being handled by an abatement contractor.  There is some asbestos enclosed within the core of the ceiling material in that location so the ceiling itself is being removed and replaced because the subcontractor installing a sprinkler line there would otherwise have to drill through it. This operation, which is set to start tomorrow, should be finished in less than 48 hours.

Workers have completed the sprinkler installation in Classroom 309, which may be returned to use near the end of this week. The contractor hopes to be out of the ILC/CLUE area as a whole before the end of the month.  The sprinkler line installation in the bibliographers' offices nearby has been completed and these offices should be returned for use this week. 

Library users will still be able to check out books from the covered stacks in the Phase 2 area on the 3rd floor by using the "Make a Request" feature in the online library catalog, with the standard 24-hour (weekdays) turnaround provided for access to materials in other restricted areas such as our off-site facility. These requests can also be made directly, in-person, at the Circulation Desk in the Learning Commons on the library's 1st floor. Access to the covered books will be restricted to library staff. After Phase 2 the project will proceed to Phase 3 in the southeast quadrant of the floor, probably sometime around Aug. 4.

Abatement containment areas near the Dixon side stairwell: On floors 2-3, access to a single row of books directly adjacent to the stairwell on each of these two floors will be blocked by a containment area of plastic sheeting until early next week when some abatement work above the ceiling and within an interior shaft for ductwork there is expected to be completed. The books in these relatively small covered areas will be unavailable for retrieval until the plastic sheeting is removed, likely on Monday.

Restroom tile: Workers have completed the tile work in the women’s restrooms on the 3rd and 4th floor, replacing the old tile that had remained on half the wall at the far end in each. There should be no more construction-related closures in these restrooms, except perhaps for a very brief walk-though inspection for the architects and project managers to finally sign off on the work, likely to take place today.

Steel: Work on the construction of the frame for the 5th and 6th floors above the library has continued to progress well as has the simultaneous pouring of concrete for the new 6th floor in areas where the framed steel is fully set. Some steel deliveries and concrete pours have needed to be rescheduled due to logistics and weather, but the work above is also moving along roughly on schedule overall.