By 2017, UF students will have another study space option for finals week in addition to the tightly packed libraries.
Newell Hall, located on Stadium Road directly across from the Hub, will be renovated into a $16.6-million study space by Spring 2017, according to a project plan sent to the Alligator from UF spokesman Steve Orlando.
The project team includes UF’s Division of Student Affairs, Student Government, Facilities Planning & Construction, Business Services and other UF entities, according to the plan.
Apart from the building’s interior renovations, which include new windows, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, fire protection and electrical wiring, the new Newell Learning Commons will also include an outdoor courtyard and a restaurant on the ground floor, called Au Bon Pain.
Initial construction site work began late this Fall, Orlando wrote in an email.
"The Newell Hall Learning Commons will be a centrally-located, 21st-century study and collaboration space serving all University of Florida students," according to the plan.
Over winter break, workers will also renovate the section of Stadium Road between Newell and the Hub, and they will add a new Regional Transit Systems bus queue and a pedestrian crosswalk, Orlando said.
Originally built in 1910, Newell Hall functioned as a research laboratory for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Science from the 1940s until 2012, when it was closed off because of its old age, according to the project plan. Last year, Newell Hall was cleared of asbestos, Orlando said.
Today, the building is home to construction workers, who will renovate the building until it is "substantially complete" in 2017, according to the plan.
But UF public relations senior Hannah Kaye said UF needs to focus on giving students space to study now.
The 22-year-old made laps around Library West on Monday, hoping to find an open seat for her and a friend. But after a few searches, she gave up and begrudgingly went to Marston Science Library.
Kaye will graduate before she’ll find an open seat in Newell Hall. She said a year and a half is too long of a wait.
"It’s crowded," she said. "We’re spending more time looking for seats than studying."
Contact Martin Vassolo at mvassolo@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @martindvassolo
- Newell Hall was constructed in 1910, two years before the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean.
- It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
- Originally dubbed the Agricultural Experiment Station, Newell Hall was first closed in the 1930s due to concerns with "structural overloading and deficient electrical wiring."
- About a decade later, it was again closed for construction.
- Newell was later used as the laboratory for what would become the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences until 2012, when it was vacated for a third time.
- Come 2017, a new Learning Commons will rise from the rubble.
This is a rendering of what Newell Hall is expected to look like in Spring 2016.
UF plans to finish the renovations to Newell Hall in Spring 2017. The $16.6-million study space project will include a new roof, new windows, plumbing, fire protection and interior renovations for the new "Learning Commons." The south of the building will include a new courtyard.
