Photo by Terra Atwood
Renovations for Payson Library will continue during the 2016-2017 school year. Construction is scheduled to be finished by fall 2017, according to Phil Phillips, vice president for Administration.
Renovations for Payson are part of the long-term Campus Life Project that consists of the construction of a new residence hall and renovations to the School of Law.
“Everything has been moved out…walls have been taken down, new openings have been created, it’s really exciting,” Phillips said.
The construction of Payson Library is more than just a remodel and infrastructure is a big part of this project, Phillips said. Construction has started over the past year and an increase in plan checks, applications and many permits caused a longer than anticipated delay to progress. Phillips said about three “intensive” weeks were spent meeting with the heads of large departments, but the departments were responsive and diligent in completing administrative duties on schedule while the demolition and clean out of Payson continued.
Swinerton Builders, the main contractor for this project, set up construction fencing around Payson and a staging area in the visitor parking lot, which will be used throughout the project, according to Pepperdine Community website. Lost parking spots in the main lot will be replaced with visitor parking spaces in Phillips Theme Tower lot.
The first phase of the Calabasas campus is finishing up, allowing a majority of library’s books to be moved there during construction and accessible to students upon request. Phillips said a temporary library hub will be added to the first floor in the TAC, which will include reference librarians, a student success center, classrooms and book rooms. Students will be able to go there to talk to reference librarians to access books that are being stored in Calabasas.
Two study rooms located in the TAC are available to be reserved at the Pepperdine Library website. Drescher Campus Library is also available throughout the semester. The Library Hub will be available beginning August 29 and will have the same hours Payson Library had according to Jeanette Woodburn, director for Library Advancement and Public Affairs.
Junior Jeremiah Anthony said he does not think the library renovations will affect him too much. As a history major, Anthony said that most materials he will use will be available in the Drescher Library and he is not too concerned.
“I think there is a sense of ‘oh no, how am I going to study?'” Anthony said. “But Payson has done a good job of letting people know that you can use their system and won’t need to change your study habits.”
Senior Mina Obieta, a business major, said that she needs big table space to study and to do homework. As a resident of Lovernich, she said the Lovernich Commons will not have enough room and may push her to go off campus to study.
Abigail Smith, professor of Communication and assistant director of forensics, said that for her research, she normally does her work using online databases and requests items as needed.
“I think the experience is more what is going to be missing. The functionality will be fine,” Smith said.
Philips said they are working together with the students, faculty and staff to warn them of any difficulties for this school year, but also want to be aware of what they can do to make it better and how to make a situation like this work for the students.
After the renovation there will be more study rooms, seating and space in addition to a Math and Sciences Collaborative Learning space and a coffee shop. Student Excellence Center, Academic Center for Excellence and other amenities will be available for students.
Construction on a new residence hall also started this past summer. Dewey Hall and Morgan Hall will be torn down during winter break to continue construction of the Seaside Residence Hall, which will hold 458 students. Phillips said this project is planned to be completed by fall of 2018.
According to previous Graphic reporting renovations to the School of Law are scheduled to be completed the summer of 2018.
Construction updates are posted on the community website.
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Follow Chad Jimenez on Twitter: @itschadjimenez
