Regenstein converts staff space into multipurpose room

Faculty and students entering Regenstein Library may notice construction workers moving through the outer lobby throughout winter quarter. They are working to convert staff space and a small training room into a large, flexible multipurpose room on the 1st floor of Regenstein, in 4,200 square feet of space to the immediate west of the outer lobby.

This space previously housed Regenstein Rooms 120–127, which had been used as offices for Interlibrary Loan Lending and as swing space for staff and services during the construction of the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library. In fiscal year 2012, the Regenstein Maintenance Endowment Fund supported the design. In fiscal year 2013, the Regenstein Maintenance Endowment Fund and gift funds supported the completion of construction.

Designed by the Chicago architecture firm Booth Hansen, the multipurpose room will serve as needed space for Library instruction and outreach events, Library Visiting Committee meetings, Library receptions and Library donor events. The room has been sized to seat up to 200 people and designed with a moveable wall that, if lowered, can divide the large room into two smaller rooms: one that can seat up to 100 people for a lecture, and the other that can be used for up to an 80-person dinner. The room will contain audiovisual equipment, including projectors, screens, and speakers, as well as infrastructure to support instruction and presentations.

Construction of the room began on December 19, 2012, and is scheduled to be completed in May 2013. The contractor, Gilbane Construction, is working from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The contractor has installed construction doors to the south of the 1st floor elevators. Some noisy work during construction hours may be heard by visitors in the Special Collections Exhibition Gallery, but it is unlikely that this work will affect other users of Regenstein.

If you have questions about the Regenstein multipurpose room, please contact Dave Borycz, Director of Budget and Facilities.