By Jared Olar
Library Assistant
As we have proceeded through our series on the history of the Pekin Public Library this year, the library’s story has unfolded in such a way that one might conclude that the library in the past had no disturbance to its normally smooth and calm operations.
But such a conclusion would be erroneous. A closer look at the library’s history reveals that its operations have at times been suddenly interrupted by disaster and controversy.
Some of those moments occurred during the construction of the new library facility. Originally it was expected that the library’s staff and collection of books would be able to move in by March of 1974, but several problems were encountered during construction that pushed that milestone back until September of that year.
Further problems arose even after the library was all moved in. One problem was the shattering of three smoked plate glass doors. The first door failed in June 1974, but two more failed during the brutally cold winter of 1974-75, one in Dec. 1974 and the third in Feb. 1975. Replacing those doors caused delays as the architect had to reject the doors supplied by the manufacturer until the company proved and certified that its doors were without defect.
Another, more ominous problem during construction was the failure of some of the building lintels. One failed in May 1974, but another lintel failed during the winter of 1974-75 on the Fourth Street side of the building. Further on, we will learn why the Fourth Street side failure was ominous. The winter cold caused cracks to form in the lintel, apparently because it was not built according to design specifications. A St. Louis representative from The Engineers Collaborative came to Pekin to oversee the construction and installation of replacement lintels. Although the lintel failures did not incur any additional construction cost to the city, it did contribute to delays.
Nevertheless, all of those challenges were overcome, and the library opened to accolades from a grateful and appreciative community.
Before long, those accolades even extended beyond the borders of our state, as indicated by a Pekin Daily Times article dated March 27, 1976, and headlined, “Pekin Library-Dirksen Center Wins Top Award In National Library Building Program.”
The Daily Times article reports that the new library and Dirksen Center facility was one of three public libraries – and the only new public library – to receive a First Honors Award in the 1976 Library Building Awards Program, sponsored annually by the American Institute of Architects and American Library Association. The award especially recognized the then-current and prior library directors Dr. William McCully and Richard Peck, as well as the Peoria architectural firm John Hackler and Co., the structural engineering firm The Engineers Collaborative, and the general contractor Del Construction.
The library’s archives mention no further problems or mishaps for the remainder of the 1970s, but on June 2, 1980, a severe summer rainstorm flooded large areas of Pekin, and illustrated one serious drawback to the library’s sunken design, for the flood waters filled Marigold Plaza and made their way into the library. The flood caused water damage to the library, but books and most furnishings were unharmed. Mitigating measures were then added to try to prevent future floods.
Then in the first month of 1984, the old problem with the lintels returned to vex the library. This time the lintel failure was dramatic.
On Jan. 16, 1984, at 5:44 p.m., the library’s 45-foot overhang along Fourth Street collapsed, causing about $35,000 to $45,000 in damage. Thankfully, no one was injured – but the library remained closed until the building was confirmed to be safe.
After dueling investigations and reports by, on the one hand, the architects and engineers who built the library and Dirksen Center, and on the other hand, the Peoria-based structural engineering firm of Randolph and Associates, the cause of the collapse was found to be a serious design flaw that put stress on the lintels that was well in excess of that allowed by building codes, coupled with the weakening of a 7-foot lintel by a seasonal cycle of moisture seeping into cracks in the library wall and freezing during the cold winter weather. The lintel then gave way because of a lack of vertical steel reinforcement in the masonry.
The overhang was repaired, two lintels were replaced and reinforced, and seven other cracked lintels were repaired, all at a cost of $94,000 (which included repairs to the sidewalk along Fourth Street). Two supporting steel beams, not in the original Hackler design, were added to bolster the overhang and prevent further collapses.
Fate had not yet finished playing her games with the library, though. On July 16, 1984, construction worker Dick Tucker of Otto Baum and Co. was hurt when a jack slipped while he was helping to repair the lintels along Fourth Street. Tucker was on scaffolding several feet off the ground when he was injured, but a backhoe’s shovel was raised to support the scaffolding while ambulance personnel placed him on a backboard and moved him into the backhoe’s shovel, then climbed into the shovel themselves to hold Tucker as the backhoe lowered them to the ground. He was taken to Pekin Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released the same day.
Next week we’ll continue our account of the library’s history, turning to the stories of some less dramatic yet very significant developments in library services and technology during the 1980s and 1990s.
