Study Café Construction Log
Fast facts
* The vendor for the new study café will be GreenBerry's Coffee and Tea Company, based in Charlottesville, VA.
* Current timeline: Construction on the servery area will start during Winter Break. The anticipated opening date is in the Spring semester.
* The entire study café area will take up about 3500 sq ft. The actual café will cover 500 sq ft, while the remainder will be seating and study space.
*The café will provide between 90 to 100 additional seats to Newman's current capacity.
* Thomas and Ann Clark provided the initial funding for the creation of the café.
*The University Libraries join a number of peers that have built cafés and lounges in their buildings to meet needs of today's college students.
November 30, 2010
The contract has been finalized with the café vendor, Greenberry's Coffee and Tea Company.
January 27, 2010
The plywood construction barrier has come down, revealing the almost-complete floor and the first wave of cabinet and furnishing to arrive.
The plywood walls have come down and finishing work moves quickly forward.
Counters, walls and benches are assembled and waiting to be arranged. A sample light fixture is finished - the others will be installed after the heavy pieces are locked into place.
As the last floorboards go down, the first of the cabinets is set in place.
January 20, 2010
Finishing work has begun, providing a first feel for the completed space.
The new floor and ceiling start to take shape.
Finishing work moves forward simultaneously above and below.
December 7, 2009
Electrical work commences.
Electricians start running wires for the new lighting.
November 16, 2009
The new glass wall starts taking shape.
The glass installers arrive.
Before the panes are placed, custom metal brackets are created.
The first pane is carefully lifted into place.
Each pane gets locked in place once it's leveled off.
Bit by bit, the cafe window wall takes shape.
November 13, 2009
The air handling system update is completed and new concrete is poured as the foundation of the café space.
New cement to cover new ventilation ducts.
The floor is filled in, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow.
October, 2009
Progress toward the installation of the bubble window continued, while inside the electricity, plumbing and walls were roughed in.
Workers have installed the metal supports that will hold the bubble in place above the opening.
The servery area starts to take shape.
September, 2009
Workers removed the old entrance doors and started preparing the space for the installation of the bubble window.
The former entrance doors were removed to make room for the new bubble window shortly after this photo was taken.
The area of the bubble starts taking shape in the front wall and the roof overhang.
August, 2009
A new stone slab was laid outside the study café space in place of the old steps.
July, 2009
Drywall removal lead to the discovery of part of the Hokie Stone facade of the 1950s library.
Late June, 2009
While paneling and fire doors went up inside and drywall came down, jackhammers chipped away the arc of concrete steps leading up to the doors that are slated for removal.
Mid-June, 2009
Before major renovations began, the construction team erected a plywood wall around the work area to muffle noise and protect patrons. The main entrance to Special Collections is blocked off completely by construction, so they established a temporary entrance off the reading area across from the Interlibrary Loan office.
They also installed a new emergency exit from Special Collections to ensure the safety of patrons and employees.
Plywood walls are starting to go up in the back left corner, closing off the construction site. The bank of doors on the outer wall will be replaced with a "bubble" window, giving a panoramic view of the outdoors.
The new emergency exit from Special Collections went up before other work began.
Newman Library spring hours
Sun: open 9:00am
Mon-Thu: open 24 hours*
Fri: close 8:00pm
Sat: 9:00am - 8:00pm
*During 24 hour operation, a valid Hokie Passport is required to access or remain in the library between 12 midnight and 7:30am.
