Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Kenyon College Building New Library

  • 10/09/19

GAMBIER, OH – September 10 marked an occasion to celebrate in the construction of the new library at Kenyon College, designed by GUND Partnership. The entire campus community and design and construction teams were invited to sign a structural steel beam painted Kenyon’s signature purple. The beam signing was followed with a ceremony to mark the topping off of the library. Kenyon President Sean Decatur officiated the ceremony and unveiled the building’s new name, a name that is borrowed from the past: Chalmers Library. After the name was announced, spectators watched as Smoot Construction hoisted the purple beam to the top of the new library. Construction will be complete by the end of 2020, with an opening planned for spring 2021.

Kenyon College Library 500

Chalmers Library replaces Kenyon’s existing Olin and Chalmers libraries, which were not optimized for 21st-century learning and were at their physical limits. The new library is expecting LEED Gold certification and presents one of the largest opportunities to reduce Kenyon’s carbon footprint through signification energy savings. The new highly flexible state-of-the-art library will support active and collaborative learning and will feature a variety of environments to encourage student growth, curiosity, and exploration. Academic Advising, Career Development, the Registrar, and Student Accessibility Services will move to the library as an integrated hub connecting work inside the classroom with work outside of it.

The original Chalmers Memorial Library opened in 1962 and was named for Gordon Keith Chalmers, Kenyon’s 13th president, who served from 1937 until his death in 1956. The new Chalmers library will also recognize his wife, Roberta Teale Swartz Chalmers H’60, a poet, teacher, and co-founder of the Kenyon Review.

Featured

  • Texas State University Completes Stadium Renovations

    Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, recently announced that it has completed a series of additions and renovations to its football stadium, according to a news release. Formerly known as the Bobcat Stadium End Zone Complex, the Johnny and Nathali Weisman Football Performance Center is an 85,000-square-foot expansion featuring hospitality spaces, banquet spaces, exterior concourses, and upgrades to the field house.

  • University of Arizona Approves New Residence Hall

    The Arizona Board of Regents recently approved plans for a new residence hall at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., according to a news release. The new facility is scheduled to open in fall 2028 and have the capacity for more than 1,200 students, enforcing a new university expectation that all first-year students live on campus.

  • University of Rhode Island, Gilbane Partner for Three New Residence Halls

    The University of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I., recently announced a public-private partnership with construction development firm Gilbane, according to a news release. Gilbane will soon start construction on three new residence halls with a total of 1,100 beds: two with apartment-style suites in northwest campus, and a reconstruction of the Graduate Village Apartments for graduate students.

  • Countway Library at Harvard Medical School

    From Shadows to Sanctuary: The Transformation of Light at Countway Library

    The renovation of Countway Library at Harvard Medical School demonstrates how biophilic design and advanced lighting strategies transformed a formerly dark, insular space into a vibrant, welcoming hub that supports wellness, learning, and community engagement.