What had originally been designed as light wells for the original Alderman Library are turning into skylit study courts and presentation halls.
For several weeks, Kevin O’Donnell of Vector Constructs of Wichita, Kansas, and Jose Sanchez, along with the workers on the Alderman Library renovation, have been assembling and installing 47- by 31-foot skylights in both the east and west courtyards of the Depression-era library.
Workers assembled the 17,000-pound skylight frames on the ground before a crane lifted them and nestled them into place. After workers secured the frames and placed concrete around the edges, they installed the 40 glass panes, each roughly 6 by 8 feet – by affixing suction cups to the 900-pound panes and hoisting them into place with a crane.