Writers House to close for renovations

The Kelly Writers House will close during the week of April 21 for structural renovations funded by University alumnus Paul Kelly's $1.1 million donation to the facility last January. Construction will begin around May 1 and is scheduled to be completed by mid-October, according to Facilities Management Senior Project Manager Kate Stillings. During the renovation period, Writers House activities will take place at undetermined various "off-site" locations around campus, Writers House Faculty Director and English Professor Al Filreis said. "But we'll be so excited to be back in the house when the renovation is complete that I don't fear our losing momentum," he stressed. Renovations include technological and structural updates to the 19th-century house located at 3805 Locust Walk. Kelly's gift will pay for the entire renovation, which will cost approximately $1 million. Architect Harris Steinberg and his wife Jane Stevens -- both graduates of the University's architectural program -- are coordinating the renovations. Steinberg explained that although the house will remain virtually intact structurally, internal renovations will include electrical, mechanical, technical and security improvements. The house will also be wired for ResNet. "It's not going to function a whole lot differently than it has been functioning," Steinberg said. "The house will still flow and feel like an old house." "It will be pretty much the same house everyone loves right now," Steinberg added. Additional plans include the development of two upstairs seminar rooms, a second-floor "cyberlibrary" with computer terminals in the current dining room and a renovated kitchen. Following the construction, the house will be equipped with wheelchair-accessible bathrooms and ramps. The renovation will focus on maintaining the house's "comfortable, informal, non-institutional" feel, Filreis said. And at the time of the donation's announcement, Steinberg said he intends to preserve the building's "gracious proportions and elegant details." During the renovation, house Resident Coordinator Shawn Walker and others will work out of a still unidentified office, Filreis said. Facilities Management is currently reviewing contractors' bids and will make a final selection by the end of this week, Stillings said. The donation and renovations coincide with four new initiatives in the house this semester, including a coordinated effort with University alumni to create a "pipeline between the New York publishing and editing world and Penn's Writers House," Filreis said. And Writers House participants will also begin working with schools in the community to establish after-school writers workshops for area students.