Despite continuous affirmations, Booth Library will not open at the start of this semester. In addition, the new food court schedule has been delayed, but is still on target to open this month.

While the renovated Booth Library will not be open for students returning from winter break, the deadline administrators had been sticking to, Interim President Lou Hencken said at a press conference Friday that he believes the library will be open within a month or so.

“Are we are shooting to have the south entrance of the library open by the end of January?” Hencken said. “The answer to that question is we’re going to do everything we can.”

Administrators said they first discovered the likelihood of a delay on Dec. 5.

Hencken said on Dec. 21 the involved administrators met to decide whether to open the library for the sake of opening or “delay it for a couple of weeks and have it in a better functioning system.”

“We don’t want students to come in and be confused. You only get one chance to make a first impression,” Hencken said. “So when we do open [the library] it will be 80 to 90 percent complete.”

Hencken; Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs and Steve Shrake, physical plant director, said the opening has been delayed as a result of a decision made almost six months ago to rip out a wall in the new south entrance’s staircase.

Cooley said that the change order was put in around June and there were numerous debates over cost between the Capital Development Board, a state agency overseeing the contracting, and the involved contractors. Those discussions he said postponed the work for months and then subsequently delayed the installment of the south entrance’s flooring.

In addition, it was discovered that new handrails would need to be ordered and installed in the staircase. The south entrance, which was originally intended to be the first entrance to open on Jan. 7, could not open without those handrails and without the finished floor.

Workers began moving books into the renovated library from the various temporary locations on Thursday, with the reference section last to be moved. Student workers were originally supposed to move the materials over winter break, but since the work was delayed to spring semester non-student workers have been hired for the project, Hencken said.

“Library services will continue,” Allen Lanham, dean of Library Services, said. “All collections will be made available to students.”

Books will be available through a paging system, similar to the one used in McAfee to retrieve books from Booth West. Lanham said that books that have been moved to the renovated library should be able to be retrieved for students within three hours after ordering. The 24-hour computer lab in the Gregg-triad will continue to remain open.

“The number one goal when we move the library is to inconvenience people the least amount as possible,” Hencken said. “Because of the faith I have in (Library Services) I know that the inconvenience the faculty and students will suffer is minimal.”

Hencken and Cooley both said the $4.5-million food court and the $21-million Booth Library renovation will not go over budget despite the opening delays.

FOOD COURT DELAY? (Bold on page)

During the press conference administrators maintained that the food court was never scheduled to be open on Jan.7. Hencken said that the deadline date was only some point in the month of January.

But Carol Strode, Facilities, Planning and Management interim director, was quoted in the Nov. 27 edition of The Daily Eastern News(Italicize on page) as saying, “In a meeting this morning with the contractor, JohnCo, the Jan. 7 date was still the target for opening.”

Shirley Stewart, interim vice president for student affairs, said that the contractor is the one to decide the precise completion date.

“They drive the date, if something doesn’t come in on time then they have to negotiate that,” Stewart said Sunday. “It is still in the month of January. Our goal as always been to open it as soon as possible.”

Stewart did acknowledge that the construction time table has been “slowed up a little bit.”

“We had thought we’d be able to move most of the equipment while students were gone over break, but (the contractors) were still installing the glass and waiting for deliveries,” she said.

During Friday’s press conference, Hencken said that the food court will be finished this month “as promised.”

“This is the time when we’re in the final days of the food court,” he said.

“This is a big if,” Hencken said. “If (all equipment) shows up we certainly should open the food court in January.”

One glitch in the completion of the food court is the installation of a state of the art fire alarm system, which Hencken said only two people in the Midwest are certified to inspect. One of those individuals is abroad in Turkey with the National Guard, leaving the other person the only one to do the job.

If something happens to him, it will delay the project, Hencken said.

“(Opening day) might be the 30th or the 31st (of January) but nevertheless we do have plans to open (the food court) in the month of January,” Hencken said at Friday’s press conference.

During the move of the food court, Subway, Chick-fil-a and Connie’s Pizza will be closed, Hencken said.

However, he said a “temporary, temporary” place will substitute in their absence.

Stevenson Hall Dining Center is extending its hours to be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Stevenson has a deli line, which administrators think is the closest alternative to Subway, he said.

For other late-night, on-campus options, Hencken said that Thomas Hall

Dining Center will continue to serve pizza until midnight and he also said that all dining halls will accept both dining dollars and cash, as they have in the past.

When the food court opens, a new elevator will still be under construction; however, the work will not obstruct the facility, Hencken said.

“We can open without the elevator, that’s the least of our concerns,” he said. “They’ll probably still be doing work on the elevator in the spring.”

Once completed, the food court will boost an increased capacity of about 200 to seat a total of 400 people, Hencken said. The new facility will house Subway, Chick-fil-A, Connie’s Pizza and the new Charleston Market, which will serve different ethnic foods, as well as the Panther Grille, which will serve foods such as hamburgers and hot dogs.