Kennedy Library Construction Tour

You don’t realize how much you appreciate something until it’s gone. On Thursday, April 10, 24 students and their advisor from the ASHRAE club at Cal Poly had the privilege to attend a tour of the Kennedy Library construction. Representatives from Frank M. Booth, a mechanical contractor in the Bay Area, led a tour of some major renovations to the building. The library is the only one on Cal Poly’s campus. It has been missed by many students who got to experience it before renovations began in the summer of 2023.

The Kennedy Library was completed in 1980 and was due for an upgrade. The building had limited ventilation and heating but no air conditioning before the new construction. Additionally, some seismic and fire codes needed to be updated for safety standards. While most people who use the library won’t notice these minor changes, the addition of air conditioning and a different stairwell will certainly be appreciated.

The building is split into multiple zones served by air handling units in each corner of the building. Students had the opportunity to go inside one of these air handling areas on the 5th floor. It is not a stand alone unit but instead a combined room that conditions the air for the building, something most of the HVAC concentration students on the tour hadn’t seen before. Components of these rooms were crane-lifted into the space and moved along the 5th floor to get to their current homes in the building corners.

Frank M. Booth employees described their favorite aspects of the project, including the crane and the satisfaction of working on a team to make the project come together. The students on the tour were extremely grateful to be back in the library and get a behind the scenes experience that most at Cal Poly will never see.

Written by Max Scott.