March 23, 2016

Coming together!

We are in the final stretch before our grand opening, set to take place on Saturday, May 7 at 10 AM. We all hope the weather will cooperate and that the celebration can take place inside and outside of the building, with speeches, music and many patrons who have looked forward to this day, at long last.

In between now and then, we have quite a bit to accomplish. While Brennan Construction makes great progress every day, library staff are looking forward to getting into the building in order to set up the library and to prepare for the regular business of everyday library operations. Moving the collections, computers, work-stations, and ensuring that the SELCO catalog accurately reflects the whereabouts of each book, DVD, CD or magazine is a large undertaking. We have planned since before we moved to City Hall for the move back in, and the details are amazingly complex and dependent on everything coming together within the expected timeline. A delay in lights installation will cause a delay in ceiling install, which delays flooring installation, which delays the elevator re-certification, which delays moving shelving and books back into the building, which shortens our time to prepare for the opening. And that's just one critical path among several! We all strive to not stress out too much about things beyond our control, while at the same time pushing hard on the things that ARE within our control. And as we prepare for the actual move-in and opening, the Friends of the Library had been planning the celebration of the grand opening, which has been a tremendous help in anticipation of the big day. 
Many City staff have been and will be instrumental in assisting us in the move from City Hall to the library, and from our storage facility in Dundas back to the library. (We suspect City Hall office folks are looking forward to the upcoming peace and quiet after we leave!) It has been a great eight month residence at City Hall for library staff, but we are looking forward to our new, old digs at 210 Washington.  

February 18, 2016

Glass in! 

What a difference it makes to have the Commons/atrium fully enclosed by glass! From the street level it is immediately apparent that there will be an ongoing connectivity of building-to-street due to the reflectivity of the glass during the day. At night the building should be transparent, with indirect lighting highlighting the historic exterior wall, which will now be an interior feature wall. The stair base has been formed and poured, and will have a terrazzo surface, as will the stair treads and the atrium, hallways and bathroom floors. Standing in the atrium, it feels larger than it had appeared in earlier months because of the glass enclosure. There are wonderful views of the neighborhood to the east and south from the space. The best view in the house, though will be from the mezzanine, which is the second-story overhang. It is now open to the second floor, and it gives the second floor, which did not undergo as much renovation as the first, a spacious and modern feel.  
Interior Sheetrock is in; beginning next Monday the walls and ceilings will be taped. Terrazzo floors are being poured starting today, in the bathroom and hallway areas of the first floor. The terrazzo process is fairly lengthy compared with other flooring applications, and the floors will need to cure over a period of time before they go through the final grinding and polishing which exposes the stone in the matrix. 
The new library doors on the Washington Street side were installed yesterday. This, more than anything so far, makes me feel like the library building is really coming together.

 January 29, 2016
 
January's Progress



With the curtainwall framing going up this week, visible signs of the building's progress are very evident. With the Commons/atrium wall framing the exterior boundaries of the library, we can really envision the atrium size. We are better able to imagine and plan for the activities that will be happening in this space-- seating, events, display, and as the main thoroughfare through the building, upstairs and down. The mezzanine-- the floor that extends into the atrium above the information desk-- will be an amazing addition to the library space, and we expect it to be one of our more popular hang-out areas. 
Once the curtainwall framing is in place the large glass windows will be installed. At the same time inside crews will be working on Sheetrocking our new and existing walls and ceilings. The "small" conference room on the second floor is being framed in, and for us, it is small only in relation to the larger of the meeting/conference rooms on the second floor. It will seat at least 6 people, and be able to be reserved by groups ahead of time, as will the former Pye Room small meeting space. 
We sometimes hear from folks watching the building progress who wonder at what appears to be the slowness of visible improvements. The amount of infrastructure-- heating and cooling, power, data, sprinklers, lighting-- that must be added into the building to make it safe and functional for future generations is astounding, and for the most part, it will be invisible by the end of the project. Here is a photo of the ceiling of the Children's Room, to give you an idea of the complexity of the infrastructure needs:

 We are getting closer to finishing out-- Sheetrocking-- our interior spaces. What a difference that will be very soon!

December 23, 2015
 
Steel Construction

 Northfieldians have been walking and driving by the construction site, concerned that they cannot see visible signs of progress on the project. While numerous photos have been posted on the Library Improvement Project website, most of these photos have been documenting the library interiors. Most of the exterior work, which has been substantial, involves excavation, footings dug and poured and a vast amount of additional  concrete work, inside and out, but until we see construction coming out of the ground, it doesn't look like much. Worry no more, Northfieldians! Steel beams for the new construction are being added, and the massive front steps leading from Washington Street to the library will be poured very soon. At the same time interior work continues, with HVAC ductwork, electrical work and plumbing additions progressing apace. It is exciting for us, and reassuring for the community to  see visible progress.
Also in response to interest over the timeliness of construction and the project budget, we have added a Library Progress Update table on our Library Improvement Project page that presents the project status progress graphically. Our aim is to present a clear picture of our progress, and if you view it, you can see that we are on time and on budget. Brennan Construction officials have been very pleased with the project to date, and remain excited to complete this unique and challenging building. 
Happy Holidays to all from the Northfield Public Library staff! 

Project Update

November 24, 2015

The construction project continues with no significant delays. The late October and early to mid- November weather has been unusually mild and has allowed for exterior work to progress as planned. The library team, consisting of myself on a regular basis and alternates Laurie Kodet and Kathy Rush, meet weekly with Brennan’s construction team, key subcontractors, Director of Public Works Dave Bennett, Facilities Coordinator Todd Fredrickson, buildings inspector Jim Kessler and either Chris Schmitt or Michael Roehr, our architects. Each week we review outstanding items that need input or review, discuss progress and preview the project schedule. All project documents are held on a Basecamp website with access for all responsible parties.

Not included in the scope of this project, but to be added concurrently, will be security cameras for the library. Most of these will cover the library interior, but will include one camera on the exterior of the Washington plaza entrance.  These digital cameras will be able to be accessed remotely via a secure website and will be compatible with similar security camera systems in City buildings.

As the construction progresses we have had questions about the existing cornerstone for the original building. Up until library construction, the cornerstone has been partially buried and barely visible behind shrubbery and a large cedar tree. With the removal of the tree and subsequent excavation the cornerstone has been once again uncovered, and several people have expressed the hope that it will remain very visible. As of now, the planter wall footings have been poured at that corner and because of the elevation at that corner, the wall necessitated a six-foot height. The cornerstone will be above ground and visible from upper elevations including the exterior stairway leading to the Carnegie Porch, but not from the Washington plaza level. Library architects are exploring the use of low-voltage lighting to spotlight the cornerstone.

October 30, 2015

Bones!

This last week we had a bit of an interesting interlude when bones were discovered on site as our construction team was back-filling excavated areas of the interior of the library. Bones! Pat Rogers, Brennan's superintendent for the project, immediately called the Northfield police, who brought the bones to a local vet for identification. As it was late Friday afternoon, we ended up waiting over the weekend for a final confirmation that these were animal bones; a cow, a pig and a chicken. Library and construction staff have entertained each other with jokes that begin "A cow, a pig and a chicken walk into a library..." Pat speculates that the 1984 addition brought fill in from a location like a farmer's field, and the bones have been there ever since. We may capitalize on the bones discovery next Halloween at a timely Teen library event!
Work on the building is proceeding; footings are being poured, water lines laid, existing waste lines cleaned out and new waste lines installed. The Division patio is in place, and footings for the retaining walls for the planter areas south of the building will be completed before winter. The hope is that the new addition will be enclosed with poly by the end of December, so that the heat can be turned on in the building. When we go over for a visit we definitely bundle up-- sometimes it feels like the inside  of the library is colder than outside.   
We are starting to get a sense of the size of the library Commons by viewing the footings around the perimeter on the southeast corner of the building. This is going to be one amazing space-- filled with light, activity and people. 
Don't forget to view the latest construction photos on our Library Improvement page at
http://guides.mynpl.org/libraryimprovement

October 12, 2015

We are three weeks into construction, and we have simultaneous demolition and construction going on at the same time. Outside of the building on the Division Street side, the Division Street Terrace has been laid using charcoal-colored pavers set in a herringbone pattern-- lovely! The height of the Division Street wall has been reduced by four feet, and sightlines from above are much improved.
The construction crew continues to shore up the original building at ground-level. We are expecting that Washington Street will be closed off for two days this week or next, as the water line coming from the street is dug and laid. 
Inside the building, the stairway has been totally removed, and workers and project team visitors must use the elevator to get up to the second floor. Our architects and the Brennan team are puzzling out the second-floor exposed brick wall, which was hidden for many years behind Sheetrock. Removing the mastic/glue that held the Sheetrock to the wall is proving to be challenging. The remainder of the chiseled-away cast concrete band that was originally on the exterior of the building, but is now a part of this exposed wall on the second floor will require ingenuity and creativity to make it the "fix" blend with the interior.