The Free Weekly/STACY RYBURN
David Johnson, Fayetteville Public Library director, speaks to the library’s board during a meeting in Fayetteville.
The Fayetteville Public Library’s expansion could vary wildly from preliminary renderings once residents give their feedback during upcoming public input sessions, Executive Director David Johnson says.
The Library Board last week got a look at the schedule for the next three months, just short of when construction could start in January. The approximately 80,000-square-foot addition on about 4 acres adjacent to the library would basically double the library’s space and parking and is set to open in 2021.
Johnson says that’s about all that’s sure for the design. Jack Poling and his architectural firm Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle have been selected to come up with the design, as the firm did for preliminary drawings during the millage campaign.
“[Poling] says, ‘Forget everything that you’ve seen. Wipe your mind of all the ways you’ve been shown. We’re starting all over. We’re making sure that we don’t overlook or miss a grand opportunity,’” Johnson says. “So, they’re going to come to show us, conceptually, some large spaces. Everything as radical as just going straight up to flattened out and going over all four acres.”
The first public input sessions will happen Oct. 2-4. The architects will come back every three weeks after getting input and tweaking the design, Johnson says.
The project kickoff will happen before that, from Sept. 11 to 13. The architects will meet in public with city officials and the library board and staff to go over expectations with the design and process.
In between the input sessions, library officials will embark on “big ideas” tours of other libraries and buildings. The architects recommended finding things to incorporate into the design that perhaps library staff and residents hadn’t thought of. The Salt Lake City and Weber County public libraries in Utah and Melrose Center in Orlando, Fla., are on the schedule next month. Another tour will happen in October.
The millage increase voters approved last August will generate about $26.9 million to put toward the expansion. The library foundation has to privately raise an additional $23 million. Sarah Du Preez, library development director, told the board Phoenix-based IPM Advancement has been hired as the capital campaign consultant.
— Stacy Ryburn
sryburn@nwadg.com
Library Project Kickoff
WHEN — 3:30 p.m. Sept. 11
WHERE — Fayetteville Public Library
INFO — faylib.org
