The rehabilitation of Norman Hall continues to merge historic charm with the needs of modern students as the construction continues over summer 2019. The renovations are improving the infrastructure to enhance the Norman Hall experience for current and future students, faculty and staff.
“To me what’s important is blending the modern day conveniences and comforts of technology with the historic building,” said Jason Diven, UF graduate and project manager with Scorpio, the construction team behind the renovations. “That’s been one of the challenges, maintaining that historic integrity while also trying to bring the building up to the standards of modern society.”
Something Old
While there are many changes to Historic Norman Hall in the fall, Scorpio is working to preserve some of the original pieces of the building for new generations of students.
Some of the original lockers from 1932 have been refurbished and returned to Norman hall. The remaining three banks of lockers have been reinstalled and will help invoke the historic atmosphere of Norman Hall, and where lockers were removed there will be added seating for students to recharge and wait for class.
The International Fine Arts Conservation Studios (IFACS) team from Atlanta has been working on the ceiling of the historic classroom has undergone restoration work to replaster the design work on the ceiling. According to Geoffrey Steward, CEO of IFACS, they used similar techniques that were used to create the ceiling in their restoration work.
“The main challenge was making the repairs identical to the original so there was no evidence of where we repaired it so that it is basically invisible mending,” Steward said. “We need to make sure whatever we do fits seamlessly into the original so you cannot see where our repairs were.”
Classrooms with original chalkboards and plaster cap ceilings will keep those historic pieces while being updated to meet student needs. The cabinetry in the historic classrooms have been restored with a fresh finish and new hardware to make them functional again. Other classrooms will have dry erase boards and acoustical ceilings installed.
Diven said that the university expects this building to be around for “another 80 to 100 years” so access to the above ceiling mechanics will allow the classrooms to keep up with advances in technology in the future. The classrooms with plaster cap ceilings can still be updated through neighboring rooms with acoustic tiles.
Something New
Previously, there were two outlets in each classroom built for students in the early 1900’s. There will be more outlets with USB ports in the classrooms to meet the needs of modern students who use laptops and other devices.
There will be a new Starbucks on the ground floor of Norman Hall, currently it is scheduled to be completed November 7 of this year. Several of the overhead ceilings in the area have been removed to make the atmosphere more open.
