Van Pelt-Dietrich Renovation Continues This Summer

(30-MAY-03)

Construction this summer will interrupt traffic flow and close portions of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center as work proceeds on a number of facilities improvements. We apologize for the inconvenience you might be experiencing; it's all for a good cause. To keep you informed and to help you better navigate the building, here is a quick summary of current renovation projects scheduled to debut this fall.

On the Ground Floor, Mark's Café:

At last: the Library gets cappuccino! Construction on a long-awaited Library café is now taking place in Van Pelt-Dietrich. Named for Mark Goldstein (C'83), Penn alumnus and son of Library Overseer Bernard Goldstein (W'53), the Café is due to open in September of 2003. Mark's Café puts the finishing touch on a series of ground floor renovations started in 1998. The Goldsteins have been instrumental in the transformation of the ground floor and large portions of the first floor. By taking the lead in the Café project, the Undergraduate Study Center, the Information Processing Center, and the Electronic Classroom, they have left an indelible imprint on the academic experience of students and faculty and on the work lives of Library staff. Perhaps the most steadfast of recent Library friends, the Goldsteins have contributed more than $2 million dollars to the rehabilitation of Penn's main Library facility.

Library visitors are invited to eat, drink, chat and think in Café environs, which will include indoor and outdoor seating and wireless and wired Internet connections. The menu at Mark's Café will offer a variety of coffee drinks, snacks and light fare. An area partitioned for the exclusive use of Library staff replaces the original staff cafeteria built in the 1960s. Vending machines will be available to the staff dining area and opened to the public in the evening after the Café kitchen closes. During construction, lavatories on the ground floor will be out of action while they undergo an extensive makeover.

Architects of the Erdy McHenry firm are responsible for the Café's neo-modernist design. Erdy McHenry won international acclaim when their work on the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery Alabama became the cover story of Architecture Magazine in September 2001. Their buildings can also be seen in many parts of Philadelphia and New Jersey. Erdy McHenry recently completed the feasibility study for the Penn Collaboratory for Learning and Teaching, a program led by the Library and Arts and Sciences.

On the Fourth and Fifth Floors, New Study and Seminar Spaces:

Construction also begins this summer on several projects designed by FormWorks Design to improve study and learning environments in the Van Pelt wing.

The core of the fourth floor is the location for two new group study rooms and a study lounge. Together, they will provide dozens of seats in an attractive and comfortable setting. Alumni of the Class of 1973 and the Parents of the Class of 2003 contributed the funds for this construction. The improvements are a direct response to student input, which indicates a rising need for group and individual study spaces.

On the fourth floor east, a team of builders is at work on a new Medieval Studies Seminar Room. The Seminar Room complements existing teaching and research spaces on the east rim of the building, all made possible by Library Overseer David Weigle. The Weigle spaces include the Judaica and Ancient Near East Study Room, a spacious classroom, and several studies for small groups.

Along the south wall of the fourth floor, in a lane connecting the Weigle spaces and the Parents of the Class of 2003 Lounge, we are installing 22 new, "wired" carrels. The carrels are made of solid cherry by the cabinetmaker Thomas Moser, and replace worn and outdated metal frame units installed when the building opened in the 1960s.

The Class of 1937 continues to express its commitment to the Library by funding an extension of the fifth floor carrel space it sponsored for graduate students in the late 1990s. Funds from the Class are covering the cost to upgrade 33 additional carrels from the old metal frame models to the highly ergonomic and wired furniture designed for Penn by Moser. Since 1996, a space of more than 100,000 square feet has been rehabilitated in the main Library thanks to Overseers, foundations and Penn alumni, gradually creating a new library within the walls of the old.

For more information:
Floor Plan for Mark's Café
Plan showing 4th floor renovations