By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The library at Thomas More College may not change on the outside, but many changes are being made on the inside.

Steven Karoly, Tracey Priest-Seibert and Brady Mick (left to right), from GBBN Architects, are working on the renovations and improvements on the inside of the Thomas More College library. Cincinnati Enquirer photos by TONY JONES

CRESTVIEW HILLS - At Thomas More College, hard hats and hammers marked the fifth week of construction in the project to renovate the school library.

On Thursday, college officials gave reporters a sneak peak at the $1.8 million worth of renovations under way. The changes will modernize the existing 36,000-square-foot facility by adding computer stations and wireless access, classrooms, a new elevator and other upgrades to meet standards required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The college spends more than $200,000 a year to lease outside space to house the Thomas More Accelerated Degree Program. With the new classrooms available, those students can take classes on the main campus. Traditional students will also have more space to study in groups.

Bruce Arpon, a 22-year-old senior from Burlington, studied with classmate Jacob Willig, a 20-year-old junior from Western Hills, as men in hard hats passed by.

"I didn't even realize they were doing it until I heard the hammering," Arpon said of the improvements. "It's going to be more convenient for us."

In December 2003, the small Catholic liberal arts college in Crestview Hills received an $800,000 grant from the Louisville-based James Graham Brown Foundation to begin renovations. In February, the Scripps Howard Foundation donated $50,000 to fund a portion of the renovation.

Over the past decade, Thomas More has transformed itself from a small, mostly commuter campus for traditional undergraduates to a residential one with graduate and undergraduate programs that serve a broader group of students.

School officials say the latest renovation is the most recent phase of that change. The library project, which includes improvements on the first and third floors, will be completed by May 31.

E-mail kgoetz@enquirer.com