The copper siding shimmers in the late July sunshine -- students returning to campus in a few weeks will be putting the new facilities at the R. Thomas Golisano Library at Roberts Wesleyan College in North Chili to good use. Extensive use of copper siding will add considerable architectural interest over the years. It will first darken and then, perhaps over decades of time, it will turn green. After finishing touches and landscaping are completed, the new building will look settled in at the academic heart of the campus tucked between Westside Drive and Buffalo Road. Ground was broken April 20, 2006 for construction of the 44,000 square foot facility which includes computer labs, a coffeehouse, study rooms and formal reading areas. A donation of $5 million made by Tom Golisano in 2001 and donations made during capital campaigns helped make the new $11.2 million facility possible. The college’s former library is renovated, renamed and transformed into the Robert and Mary Hastings Academic Center. Last week, books were being transferred from one library to the new space in preparation for the arrival of students at the end of the month. The facility will be officially dedicated September 10. The archway (right), off the northeast corner of the library, has a plaque near the top on each side. The one on the east side reads: Presented by Class of 1926; the west side reads: Rebuilt, Class of 1974. Photographs by Walter Horylev. © August 5, 2007 - Westside News Inc. |
