Mrs. Magill shared her memories of how much Taylor Hardwick (Hardwick and Lee were the original architects) cherished the architecture. (Mr. Hardwick fought to keep the building when it was being considered for demolition.) Mrs. Magill is big on "green" and stated that element has been considered in every aspect of the building's renovation and build out which is almost complete. "Green" figures into much of the $23 million spent in the refurbishing; amazing when you consider they paid $2 million for the old Main Library. A good bit was spent for Internet and wi-fi wiring.
The building is leased to non-profits and the vision is for the building to be a nonprofit center for northeast Florida. Little available rental space is left. United Way of Northeast Florida will move in soon. Mrs. Magill believes leadership organizations and businesses should be downtown. Board rooms, conference center, 3 kitchens, eight refrigerators and several dishwashers are all shared. Board rooms, learning centers, and even the putting green/garden on the third floor can be rented for private affairs and they have a catering kitchen for such. Mrs. Magill believes the new Main Library and their Center can partner well where rental space is concerned.
Recycled rain water feeds vegetation around/in the building and solar panels heat water for showers. All LED lighting is used in common areas and offices. The old boilers and chillers are replaced with the most modern HVAC. The company that originally sold the old machinery to the city asked Mrs. Magill for the equipment and it is now in their museum. (Some will remember when you could get a smell of fuel oil through the vents when the heat was on in the winter.) The elevators are new but use the same shaft installed in 1965.
The third floor where the Director's, Deputy Director's, Administration, board room, staff lounge/kitchen, Tech Services and Cataloging, mail room, call center and the huge office supply room are now the admin offices of the Jessie Ball du Pont Foundation. Just before their offices is a large glass walled, handsome board room that looks out to the garden/putting green (called the courtyard at old Main). The wide porch that spanned the Director's office down most of the Forsyth Street side still stands and lines the Foundation's executive offices.
The second floor has learning (training) centers, open kitchen, and expansive seating area (lined down the area called "the bridge" at old Main), the conference center, an open wi-fi center and kitchen, as well as offices. In the old Main Library, the children's department was on the right of the elevator and FAR (Fine Arts and Media) to the left. (The "bridge"--a large open space--beyond where Children's and FAR were--once hosted a reception held by the JPL Foundation for the then new director, Ken Sivulich. Someone played the seldom used piano and everyone enjoyed the spacious area overlooking the first floor.)
The ground floor boasts a huge reception/seating area, reception desk, and offices. The two big ceramic tile library front "murals" that faced the elevators on the third floor now adorn the wall leading to offices to the left of the Center. In "olden days", the circulation desk stood on the right as you entered the turnstile on Ocean Street, the Genealogy and Florida Collection was on the left, and the history collection faced you. The JPL Foundation once hosted cocktail parties for Night of Literary Feasts attendees there (with proper permission from the city, of course) before groups separated to be wined and dined at different prominent hosts' homes where various famous authors were the main draw.
The basement contains the building's powerhouse, another open kitchen with condiments in open display--paid for by swiping your debit or credit card--the building engineer's office, mail room, and soon to be United Way's 211 center, and a planned A/V production center. Mrs. Magill explained that if, say, the FTU wants to interview someone, they could skype the interview at this center. This will be another shared space that any of their nonprofits can use. Previously, Main Library's Periodicals and Government collections were housed, as well as other books to be sorted.
Well, that's not a complete picture or comparison of old versus new but a good overview. For more details, please follow this link: Jessie Ball du Pont Center
Other pictures taken during the tour are on the gadget (right) side of this blog. Many thanks for the pictures shared to Deputy Director Jennifer Giltrop and Resource Development Coordinator Pam McClellan and two thoughtful retirees: Belinda Campbell and Peggy Glasnap. As everyone did who toured, they oohed and ahhed at the Center's transformation into the 21st century while capturing the nostalgia of old Main.
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