View full sizeEmily-Rose Bennett | The Flint Journal
Nearly ten months of renovations have finally been completed at the Mott Community College library in Flint. The project began due to structural problems with the building and upgrades were made to meet the needs of today's students. The library is completely wireless and outlets have been installed in the desks and tables so students can plug in their laptops.
FLINT, Michigan — Everyday, Charles Stewart Mott would walk from his nearby estate into his personal office at the Mott Library where he'd mingle with students, sit at his desk with a cigar or just read — as the story goes.
More than half a century later, the famous Flint businessman’s office is back on the college campus named after him.
The original fireplace-decked study belonging to Mott Community College’s benefactor was refurbished to its 1960s era, full with the wooden desk the philanthropist used, as part of $8.2 million renovations at the Mott Library.
MCC celebrated the grand re-opening of the three-story, 82,100-square-foot library Thursday, offering the community the first official look at the renovated building that had been a construction site for nearly 10 months.
“It’s not physically the center of the campus, but it is the center of the campus,” said Amy Fugate, MCC’s vice president for academic affairs, as she walked through the wide open spaces where the furniture and design was made to match the building’s original mid-century feel, down to the arch-backed chairs.
Fugate said the building, built in 1960 on land that was once Mott’s farm, required core structural renovations that meant gutting the third floor and opened the door to other improvements. The restorations were paid half by the state for capital improvements and half with funds from the $45 million bond renewal approved by voters in 2004.
View full sizeEmily-Rose Bennett | The Flint Journal
A new testing center been added as part of the $8.2 million renovation of the Mott Community College Library in Flint. The project began due to structural problems of the old building and upgrades were made to meet the needs of today's students. The library is completely wireless and outlets have been installed in the desks and tables so students can plug in their laptops. Among the enhancements: Soundproof study rooms, a glass-walled testing center, a “Smartroom” where students can practice Power Point presentations, new computers and labs, and a faculty reading and grading room.
Nearly everything in the Wi-Fi-equipped building is also wired, including the tables and soon outdoor stations where people can plug in iPads and laptops.
“We had to upgrade it to make it meet the needs of students today and make it a resource they want to use,” Fugate said.
The campus is also trying out a 960-square-foot-stripped vegetated roof that’s covered in ground plants and has been lauded for reducing, delaying rainwater runoff and increasing insulation to save energy.
An addition was also built on to the lobby area of the attached Event Center to enhance meeting space.
For students like Brendan Stokes, 18, who sometimes listens to his iPod while writing papers on his laptop on the second floor, the library is a good place to invest in.
“I really like the feel of it and it’s open to the community, which I think is great,” said Stokes of Flint. “Any good college has a good library. It’s a big piece of campus.”
Student Cynthia Gorton, who works in the testing center, said it’s much easier to monitor students taking tests because of the wide spaces and glass walls.
The 20-year-old Flint Township resident also uses the library more often that she used to for studying.
“It’s much more enjoyable,” she said.
View full sizeEmily-Rose Bennett | The Flint Journal
New computers and labs have been added as part of the $8.2 million renovation of the Mott Community College Library in Flint. The project began due to structural problems of the old building and upgrades were made to meet the needs of today's students. The library is completely wireless and outlets have been installed in the desks and tables so students can plug in their laptops.