National Library Project
The destruction at the National Library represents yet another tragedy resulting from the war in Iraq. This important Iraqi cultural center was looted and its contents (including the National Archives) were destroyed by fire. JumpStart obtained approval in October of 2003 from the Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for theatres, television, radio, libraries, etc., to begin work on the site. Although the structure is intact, the entire inside had to be cleared of rubble, cleaned, etc. This constituted three floors of 4,000 sq. meters each for a total of 12,000 sq. meters. Work on this project began on October 20 of 2003 and utilized over 30 workers including three supervisors and one foreman. The project was completed a month later on November 21 with 13 large dump trucks of ash and plaster being carted away from the site that same day.
