Groundbreaking for Africana Center renovations set for early June

By Franklin Crawford

The renovation and expansion of Cornell's Africana Studies and Research Center and its library on Triphammer Road is scheduled to begin June 7, with a completion date of mid-January 2005. An official groundbreaking ceremony at the 310 Triphammer Road center will be June 12.

A representation of the Africana Studies and Research Center's new multipurpose room and library, as viewed facing west from Triphammer Road. The domed structure at right is the multipurpose room, which is connected to the library, left. From this view, the existing building sits behind the new structures, separated by a courtyard, with all three spaces linked by a connecting foyer. Courtesy of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott

The project calls for the renovation of the center's existing building and the construction of a new building to house the growing Africana Library as well as a multipurpose room.

Plans for the renovation and expansion were approved by the Cornell Board of Trustees' Building and Properties Committee in January of this year. The principal architect is Ralph T. Jackson, with the Boston-based firm of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott.

"The principal architect for the project has integrated the suggestions of the Africana faculty, staff and students to design a building that not only meets our program needs but also incorporates the essence of Africana cultures and aesthetics in its creative use of textures, colors and artwork," said Salah Hassan, Cornell professor of Africana studies and the center's acting director.

During construction in the 2004-05 academic year, Africana Studies courses will be held in classrooms on central campus, with exact locations available through the College of Arts and Sciences online course listings. The Africana Library (John Henrik Clarke Library) will temporarily be housed on the sixth floor of the university's Olin Library. Africana faculty and staff will be provided with temporary offices in Langmuir Lab on Brown Road, and the Ujamaa Residential College is providing office and classroom space as well as computer access for Africana graduate students. Faculty also will hold office hours and meet with students in office spaces on central campus. Colloquia, seminars and public lectures will be held in Olin Library and in Goldwin Smith Hall.

The June 12 groundbreaking ceremony will be attended by President Jeffrey Lehman and Provost Biddy Martin, Cornell trustees Elizabeth Moore and Dwight Bush and members of the Cornell Black Alumni Association, as well as students and other distinguished guests.

The project happens to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the Willard Straight takeover on campus, which many feel accelerated, along with related activism at the time, the establishment of the Africana Center.

"Credit goes to all our students and members of our community who fought very hard 35 years ago to establish the center and to James Turner, the founding director and faculty member, who over the years worked very hard to maintain it, develop it and call for its programmatic and intellectual expansion," said Hassan. "It is fair to state that Cornell has become a better educational institution as a result of the events of 1969."

For more information and updates on the renovation, visit the Africana Studies Web site: http://www.asrc.cornell.edu/.