The Daily Universe celebrates 50 years
This story originally appeared in the Daily Universe on Aug. 1, 1991
By Tonya Buchmiller
The new Joseph Smith Memorial Building will be completed and ready to use Aug. 15, said the assistant administrative vice president of BYU physical facilities.
Vice president Ed Cozzens said the building will not be ready for Education Week, but will be ready for the new school year.
Norm Faldmo, director of planning, said the biggest challenge for this project was designing the new building around the old, existing building. "We had to shoehorn the new building in," he said.
Jeff Preston, job superintendent for Layton Constructions, said the biggest construction challenge was completing the building within the time schedule. "Trying to complete a $6 million building in 12 months is more than a challenge," he said.
Furnishing will be moved out of the old Joseph Smith Building starting Aug. 5. It will take approximately five weeks to remove the asbestos from the old building and then it will be demolished between the 15th and 20th of September, Preston said.
It won't be difficult to raze the old building. "The old building is constructed mainly of unreinforced masonry and wood construction. It's amazing what can be done," Faldmo said.
The area where the old building now stands will eventually be an open landscaped corridor. The area will not be made into a parking lot, he said.
The open corridor will be landscaped with paver brick, two rows of trees and raised planter benches around the trees, said Boyd Datwyler, landscape architect for BYU.
The new Joseph Smith Memorial Building is well designed with an interior garden court and a commons area off the auditorium. The commons area will be used as a study area, a Church history display area and a gathering area for people waiting to use the auditorium, Faldmo said.
The interior garden court will designed around a biblical garden theme, Datwyler said. "Right now we are shopping around trying to find the right plants," he said.
A sculpture relief by Fraz Johanson, a retired BYU art professor, will decorate the north wall of the commons area. The sculpture relief theme will emphasize education.
Copyright Brigham Young University 8 Dec 2005
