Facilities Update March 2006
Filed under Campus Renovations
Posted by Libraries, March 03, 2006
View all posts for March 2006
While there are still many moving pieces, we wanted to provide an update on the new library building construction project. We are very excited that we are nearing completion and that the first occupants will soon be in the building!
The Communications Department will move into the third floor over and immediately after Spring Break.
The Advancement Department move to the fourth floor will take place Sunday, March 12th. Alumnae Relations, Corporate Foundation Relations, Office of the Vice President, Major Gifts, Simmons Funds and Planned Giving offices will be relocated to the fourth floor of the new library building. Advancement Communications, Donor Relations, and Advancement Services departments will continue to operate on the first floor of the East Wing until the Lefavour Building renovations are completed in summer 2007.
Since the rest of the building, including the Library, is undergoing final finishes, the building itself will not be open to other members of the Simmons community until the end of May. From March through May, final furniture and fixture installations will be completed, technology tested, classrooms prepared for use, and the Library staff and collections moved in. During this time, the door from the inside of campus – facing the parking lot – will only be open for Communications faculty, staff and students and Advancement Staff to have access to their floors in the building.
As you know from the update from Daphne Harrington, Library Director, the Library will open services in the new building on May 18th. See the library web page for more information: http://my.simmons.edu/libraries/information/
College classrooms in the new Library building – including 2 large forty person rooms on the third floor, 5 standard classrooms on the ground floor, and 2 instructional computing classrooms on the ground floor – will be available for start of the summer 2006 semester. This will greatly alleviate the space crunch we have experienced over the past year due to the combination of construction and increasing enrollments.
Event spaces will also be open by the start of the summer semester – and possibly sooner! Stay tuned for exact dates as furnishings are delivered and installed and site work is completed as soon as weather allows.
During the summer, we will do minor construction on the ground floor of the Main College Building to open access between the Library and Main College buildings. This involves construction of an ADA ramp and grading to allow seamless passage from the inside of the buildings. This will be in place by the end of the summer.
The gutting and renovation of the Lefavour Hall building will occur from June 2006 through May 2007. The rest of Advancement, the Library, Modern Languages, and Technology will move into their new space over summer 2007.
Lisa Chapnick will be hosting a community meeting in the Conference Center on Monday March 13 from 3-4 on Master Plan III, including updates on the Library, the new SOM/Academic building and Quad construction that will happen this summer, and be joined by Roy Schifilliti for an update on parking during that project
Also, on March 29th from 3:00-5:00 in C103 there will be a forum to present and discuss the LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification process for the new SOM/Academic Building and Quad project.
Please contact me with any questions and as always, thank you for your patience while we make the Simmons campus a better place to teach, learn, work and live.
Janet Fishstein Director of Facilities Simmons College email: Janet.Fishstein@simmons.edu phone: 617.521.2284
