Coming soon to a college campus near you

Coming soon to a college campus near you

Barnard is in the process of designing and building a new library and activities facility in place of Lehman. Last night, some Barnard higher-ups talked to SGA about the ongoing project that will temporarily displace many a Barnard studier, but provide a low-cost field trip for the Architecture students. Unfortunately, DSpar wasn’t there. Construction correspondent Joe Milholland brings you the scoop on this “groundbreaking” endeavor. 

At Monday night’s SGA meeting, Chief Operations Officer Rob Goldberg and Associate VP of Finance Eileen DiBenedetto came to talk about the new building at Barnard that will replace Lehman. The building will have a new, modern library with loud and quiet study spaces, a below-grade connection to the Event Oval, a math helproom, a Digital Humanities Lab, and a Computational Science Center. Construction will start no earlier than December of 2015, and Lehman has to be torn down first before Barnard can begin building the new building. “It’s going to be disruptive,” said Goldberg of the construction, comparing it to that of the Diana Center.

As for space issues, the administration will set up swing space where Lehman’s current activities will go at the swimming pool and the LeFrak Gymnasium. Books from Lehman will go either to Columbia or be kept in storage. Admins are also discussing whether to return the swing space to normal after the construction is done.

Goldberg answered some questions from SGA about the new building, which doesn’t yet have an official name. Goldberg wants to get most of the money for the new building from private donations and doesn’t plan for the building to impact tuition, but it will be “factored into” Barnard’s finances. There will also be a new dining hall, but there are no details yet on what it will be like. The construction will, for a short time, disrupt the tunnels at Barnard.

Updates:

  • There were three endowment fund presentations. One was for tumblers at Liz’s Place. Unlike the SICB mug-drive, this proposal would have tumblers in Liz’s Place that students could use for drinks and then return when they are done. A trial program of 144 biodegradable plastic tumblers would cost $528.16.
  • Another proposal was for a computer in each lounge of Elliott Hall, costing between $2,000-$4,000.
  • A third proposal was “Spicing up Hewitt.” In a PowerPoint presentation, the presenter listed three problems with Hewitt in bullet points: “boring, lacks character, and not unique to Barnard.” She complained Hewitt could be part of “any nursing home” and that the only thing to look at is “Jerry Springer on the television.” She suggested murals of famous alumni such as Zora Neale Hurston. The total cost of this project would be $1,500
  • There will be an SGA town hall about student-alumni connections on Thursday the 13th from 6-8pm in Sulzberger North Tower.

A  temporary inconvenience via Shutterstock