Moving into Design Development

On Tuesday, October 21 City Council voted unanimously to approve the library's preliminary design, costs and funding plan. With this approval we are able to  move forward with the next phase of the Library Improvement project, which is Design Development. The Core Design Team, made up of City staff, architects Sara Rothholz Weiner, Michael Roehr, Chris Schmitt and their consultants will be meeting on a regular basis over the next two months to make decisions about a whole host of issues, from where we place our fiction and non-fiction areas to what materials are used in the building exterior. Furniture will be selected, carpet and wall colors chosen, landscaping will be detailed. Areas identified in conceptual plans will be solidified.
This is a time of intense work for the Team, and where we call upon each person to contribute in their areas of expertise. We have architects to guide us in the details of building interiors and exteriors, historic preservation consultants to provide input on HPC approvals, IT staff to articulate technology needs, City building engineers to ensure that this old building is compliant with 21st century code and function. Library staff will work especially with Sara Weiner, who has a wealth of experience in library design, to determine what we call programmatic function-- how the different functions of the library work together to flow well for both our patrons and our staff. The importance of these programmatic functions cannot be stressed enough, and good decisions made at this time will ensure the success of the building for years to come.