The University has projected that the long-awaited renovation of Gilman Hall, the symbolic heart of Homewood Campus and home to most humanities departments, will be begin next month and finish in 2010.
While plans for renovating Gilman have spanned many years as an administrative topic, the Building and Grounds Committee of the board of trustees have decisively agreed upon a building plan that will house all 10 humanities departments in the School of Arts & Sciences upon its completion in the summer of 2010.
The most dramatic undertaking of this project will be the reconfiguration of the currently unused light well in the center of Gilman Hall.
It will be transformed into a three-story atrium, connecting the Hutzler Undergraduate Library and the Memorial Hall at the entrance of the building.
On the ground floor, the atrium will showcase the University's archaeological collection.
Above the collection's transparent roof will be an enclosed courtyard, serving as the main intersection within the building where students and faculties from across the departments may converge to foster a culture of "interdisciplinary collaboration," according to a news release.
Gilman Hall will also undergo extensive technological updates to include more modern mechanical and air-conditioning systems. New corridors that are more accessible for the handicapped will be replacing the current maze of dead-end stairways.
Much of the building's appearance, however, is expected to remain the same.
"The architects actually spend a lot of time understanding ... they have been very sensitive to the deep emotional connection many of us have for the building," said Adam Falk, dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. "While changes are forward-looking, [the architects are] certainly not trying to turn Gilman into something it isn't."
The old library stacks will be cleaned out over the summer and only a portion of the offices will be required to move out. However, by the summer of 2008, Gilman Hall will be closed until the time of its completion. Because of the recent surge in the progression of renovating plans, emptying the building had not been a consideration.
"The challenge will be relocating the offices in Gilman and at the same time retaining its integrity and functionality as departments," Falk explained. "It is important for [the departments] to still be able to continue their seminar tradition."
To support this change, many of the older labs in Dunning Hall will be reformatted into classrooms. The project's present priority is to ensure the fluidity of this transition.
Costs for the project are estimated to amount to $73 million, which will come from Maryland, the University, and philanthropic donations. The University projects that private donors will donate $35 million, and half of that funding is in place so far.
According to Falk, plans to renovate have been in the works for a long time. A year ago, the announcement to fix Gilman's infrastructure was actually only the beginning of a sequence of many changes.
"Before, renovations could only take place in phases, but even then it was hard to raise that kind of money," Falk said.
But with the support funds now available with the help of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's generous $100 million donation, Falk and the committee then asked the architects to imagine renovations for the whole Gilman Hall. The project has been underway since.
