The Kaplen Family Building is nearing completion. Nine months after we began, the basic structure is “tight,” and workers are turning their full attention to the interior of the 22,000-square-foot addition to our Amherst headquarters. In the 250-seat Kligerman-Greenspun Performance Hall, crews are hanging massive white spiral heating ducts, sized to assure near-silent operation. Electricians and computer specialists are pulling miles of wire. In the kosher classroom kitchen, plumbers are installing a labyrinth of copper pipes and cast-iron drains. In the Klarman Student Center, carpenters are installing kitchen cabinets, ash doors and interior windows, peg racks and cubbies, and, in every nook and cranny, wooden bookcases for our Reference Library.
The new, climate-controlled book repository has been painted, sprinkler pipes and alarm systems are in place, about half of the light fixtures are up, and pallets of newly-donated steel library shelving are stacked in a corner, awaiting installation. Kelleher Construction’s uncommonly resourceful project manager, Rick Southgate, and the dauntless super, Paul Hursty, are doing a heroic job in keeping the project on time and under budget. If all goes well, we’ll be opening our doors in April.
