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University Library and Rectorate to be renovated
More than PLN 55 million will be spent on the thermal modernisation of the University Library and Rectorate buildings. Work on the first building is due to start in the second quarter of this year, and on the second at the turn of 2025 and 2026. Each of the renovations will take around 18 months.
The Rectorate and the Library are some of the oldest buildings on the university campus in the Bielany district in Toruń. Both were put into use in the early 1970s. Since then, they have been renovated several times, but never on the scale that is now planned. The modernisation of the rectorate, which houses almost the entire university-wide administration and the University Centre for Foreign Languages, and the Library, which is used not only by the academic community but also by many residents of Toruń, is a major logistical challenge.
- 'We assume that each of the renovations will take a minimum of 1.5 years,' explains the Vice-Rector for Human Resources and Financial Management, dr habil. Radosław Sojak, NCU Prof. - This is quite a long period of extraordinary functioning for everyone who works in these buildings. On the other hand, you must bear in mind issues related to security of IT, data, the GDPR.
Andrzej Romański
Both renovations are to be phased. It may be possible to make the library collections partially accessible during the course of the works. However, a large part of them will be moved to other locations. - For the most part, we have already found such places at the university where we will be able to store them with accessibility,' says Prof Sojak. - However, you may have to wait a little longer for a book than at present. During the previous modernisation, which was less comprehensive, the library was closed for three weeks. Our ambition is that, despite the greater complexity of the renovation, it should not be shut down at all.
The thermomodernisation of both facilities will cost PLN 55 million. The majority of this amount (approximately PLN 30 million) will be subsidised by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. The Nicolaus Copernicus University authorities must cover the rest with their own funds. They will allocate part of the State Treasury bonds, which were handed over to Polish universities by Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the end of November last year.
The work will include insulating the buildings, replacing insulation materials and installing photovoltaic panels on their roofs. The NCU authorities estimate that, once completed, the university will save several hundred thousand zloty a year, as these are currently the two most energy-intensive buildings on the Bielany campus.
