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Library renovation gets underway under Okie Honken's watchful eye

Lead Summary
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By
Mavis Fodness

For local contractor Okie Honken, measuring is a matter of using his head.
On Friday Honken and assistant librarian Barb Verhey discussed repurposing a set of wooden bookshelves.
With a hand to his forehead, Honken stood one board on end and declared where his hand rested was a six-foot height.
“We are trying to reuse as much of the materials as possible,” Verhey said.
Honken is equally cost-conscious.
The Rock County Community Library is in the midst of a $175,000 remodeling project. Since Jan. 18 the facility has been closed to patrons as materials were moved from the library’s main floor to its full basement, where it opened for patrons today (Jan. 28).
The main floor remodel will be finished by mid-March, according to Honken, the project’s general contractor.
Honken, at age 79, has been involved in several public entity projects recently including the health and human services building as well as the courthouse.
 The remodeling of the former hospital for the city of Luverne brought the construction company owner out of retirement 10 years ago.
The trade is something that Honken has enjoyed for almost six decades.
“There weren’t many mornings I didn’t want to go to work,” he recalled.
Overseeing projects like the library is a matter of scheduling subcontractors and enjoying the challenge of constructing what the customer wants. Those carpentry skills are something Honken said was always in him.
Honken grew up on a farm near Kenneth and attended elementary school there before graduating from Luverne in 1954.
“I wrote my senior paper on ‘How to Build a House,’” he recalled with a slight grin.
He spent three years working at a Luverne lumberyard before entering the construction realm.
“I started out mixing mud,” Honken said.
Mud was used by bricklayers to adhere bricks to each other. Mud making gave way to concrete pouring to building houses as he proposed in his senior paper.
By 1975 Honken opened his own construction business, retiring in 2005.
Or so he thought.
The 62 years of working within the construction business was hard to leave behind and Honken has been busy ever since.
His philosophy may be what keeps his skills in demand.
“I try to do the best I can for the customer,” he said.
Library reopens today with reduced hours
 
As the Rock County Community Library’s main floor undergoes its renovation project, patrons can access library services in the library basement.
From now through the month of February, the library will close two hours early Monday through Thursday nights, according to director Serena Gutnik.
“Patrons use the evening hours mainly for computer use and studying,” she said. “We are not able to offer that during our renovation because of our reduced space.”
The new library hours will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. The facility is closed on Sundays.

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