Widener Main Entrance, First Floor to Open Today After Six Months of Construction

The main entrance and first floor of Widener Library will open to the public today six months after they were closed for cleaning and construction.

Part of a $92 million renovation project that is projected to take five years in total, the new and improved entrance to the century-old library showcases the pink marble columns and tiled floor, which have been cleaned of the dirt and debris that had piled up over the course of decades.

“We are trying to use as much of the original building as possible,” says Beth Brainard, director of communications for Harvard College Library. “It will be a 21st century library with the elegance and grandeur that it had in 1915.”

The project began in 1999 with a renovation of the Widener stacks—all 14 million volumes were removed and systematically cleaned—and will finish in 2004 with a revamping of the Loker and West Reading rooms.

Besides cleaning and repainting, the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical and security systems will be upgraded to meet current safety and preservation standards. Two new reading rooms, a new fire suppression system and additional staff workspace are also part of the renovation plans.

While students and professors will again be able to ascend the famous stairs to the ten story library, future projects will mean that some sections will temporarily be shut.

The next step will be the construction of a newspaper and microfilm reading room, expected to begin on April 28th.