Duane Library

Duane Library is a former library located at Fordham University's Rose Hill campus, originally constructed in 1926. After the construction of the William D. Walsh Family Library in 1997, Duane Library officially closed. Renovated in 2004, it now houses the university's admissions office and theology department.

Duane Library
General information
Architectural styleGothic Revival[1]
LocationFordham University
Town or cityThe Bronx, New York City, New York
CountryUnited States
Completed1928
Technical details
Floor area60,000 square feet (5,600 m2)

History

Construction

Excavation for Duane Library began shortly after the university's completion of the Rose Hill Gymnasium in January 1925, and construction formally began in 1926.[2] The library was completed in 1928.[3] It was named after Father William J. Duane, S.J. the university's president from 1924 to 1930.[4] Its interior features a spiral staircase and oak paneling, and capacity to store 150,000 volumes.[4]

Renovation and repurposing

In the 1990s during the construction of the William D. Walsh Family Library, the basement space of Keating Hall was used to store 300,000 books that had been held in the Duane Library collection.[5] After the completion of the Walsh Family Library, the Duane Library was officially closed to students and faculty and sat empty.[6]

In 2004, a $12 million restoration project of the library was undertaken.[3] A new staircase was added to the building, which used marble slabs from the library's original stacks.[7] Additionally, the original granite porch of the library's second-floor entrance was removed, relocating the main entrance to grade.[7] The interior restoration required the creation of corridors in order to make the building multi-use, as the original interior had been a single open space.[3]

After the completion of the restoration, Duane Library became the official home of the university's admissions and theology department, as well as providing lecture and study spaces.[1]

Recent History

In 2018, the university was gifted a quarter-scale reproduction of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[8] The digital reproduction was made for the Met's exhibit, Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer, which ran from November 2017 to February 2018.[9] It is on display in Duane Library's Butler Commons.[8]

  • Duane Library, viewed from the south
    Duane Library, viewed from the south
  • Entrance to Duane Library
    Entrance to Duane Library
  • Interior of Duane Library
    Interior of Duane Library

See also

Notes and references

Notes
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  1. Schroth 2008, p. 374.
  2. Shelley 2016, p. 171.
  3. McDowell, Edwin (April 4, 2004). "$12 Million Project to be Finished in May; Duane Library at Fordham Renovated for New Uses". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  4. Shelley 2016, p. 172.
  5. Shelley 2016, p. 243.
  6. Schroth 2008, p. xv.
  7. "Duane Library, Fordham University". PBDW Architects.
  8. "Fordham Acquires Met's Reproduction of Sistine Chapel Fresco". Fordham Newsroom. 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  9. "Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-08-02.

References
  • Schroth, Raymond A. (2008). Fordham: A History and Memoir (Revised ed.). New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-823-22977-2.
  • Shelley, Thomas J. (2016). Fordham, A History of the Jesuit University of New York: 1841-2003. New York: Fordham University Press.

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