Axinn construction scheduled for spring

Author: Jeanine Buzali

The construction of The Donald E. Axinn '51 Center for Literary and Cultural Studies, to be located in a renovated Starr Library, is now scheduled to break ground this year. The plan is to convert the old library into a brand new facility that will house the English Department, including Creative Writing, as well as Film and Media Studies, American Literature and Civilization and the History Department.

According to Glenn Andres, chair of the Axinn Planning Committee and Christian A. Johnson professor of Art, the project is going as planned. Demolition is to begin late this fall, followed by construction next spring and occupancy in the fall of 2007.

The entire building will not be demolished, however. The project includes preserving the York (1900) and Sawyer (1927) fabric and restoring the original Reading and Abernethy Rooms, which house the lobby and index room respectively. The Shepley Reading Room (1960) will be preserved and converted into classroom spaces looking into the front campus. The Shepley stack area (1960) and the Meredith Wing (1978) will be removed to open the view from Main Street into the front part of the campus. Additions will include a circulatory winter garden across the south face of the old building, accessible entries at the east and west ends of the circulation axis, a new lobby facing McCullough Student Center and Old Chapel Road and two faculty office wings to the south. There will also be a sheltered, south-facing garden court.

The environmental features of the project include the glazed, south-facing winter garden, winter solar gain, summer sunshades, maximized daylight and natural ventilation in offices complete with on-demand air- conditioning, climate-conditioned classrooms for year-round comfort, a sheltered garden courtyard for extended-season outdoor usage, the use of certified green wood and maximized usage of local products.

According to Andres, the plan is for the road behind Starr to close during the construction period. Construction also depends on a coordinating but separate plan to transform Old Chapel Road into a pedestrian street with parking and drop-off on both ends. No other streets are predicted to be affected by the project in the plans so far.

The Board of Trustees allocated the project's budget, meaning the money comes out of funds set aside for maintenance and renovation of Starr. According to Andres, they are still "working to trim [the budget] down." Generally speaking, however, the construction budget is separate from other budgets. Thus, this project has no impact on the academic budget.

Preview plans of the project are now in circulation, courtesy of Tom McGinn, project manager. A model of the project will also be on display in the Harmon Periodicals Reading Room in the New Library for Homecoming Weekend. Comments from the College community about the project are welcomed.

Although work on the Axinn Center has steadily progressed, plans to renovate Proctor and even build an entirely new dining hall have been postponed for now. A feasibility study is being conducted in order to see what needs to be done to sustain Proctor for the next decade, at the very least. Previous considerations of moving the College Store into the McCullough Student Center and constructing a new social space on the back of the building have also been put into long-term building plans. However, renovating residential buildings first has been made the new priority.