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Progress Continues on New Library
The Library continues to make progress toward the new building, with several major milestones being cleared over the summer.
On July 31st, the Library completed the purchase of the three residential properties along Alpine Street. These properties will be combined to form one parcel for the new Library building and parking area.
In July, the Library applied for preliminary site plan review with the Village and on August 7, the Library received preliminary approval from the Planning Commission. While a few minor issues were identified by the Village’s engineering consultants, the Library’s architects, Holzheimer, Bolek Architects, feel that these issues will be readily resolved. The Planning Commission has required greater detail regarding parking lot lighting, landscaping and several other minor issues.
On August 28th, the Library received preliminary site plan approval from the Dexter Village Council.
The Library’s engineering consultants are currently revising the site plans to provide additional detail and are working with the Village to resolve the outstanding issues related to Village Ordinances.
The Library currently expects to file for final site plan review by the end of September. This process will require final review of the plans by the Village’s engineering consultants, Planning Commission and Village Council.
Once the Library has received final planning approval from the Village, the construction drawings will be completed. With the current timeline for submission and review, the Library could receive final approval by November, providing all outstanding issues are settled.
During the month of June, the Library selected O’Neal Construction of Ann Arbor to serve as the construction manager for the building project. The Library Board determined to hire a construction manager in order to help maximize the Library’s construction budget. Due to volatile prices in the energy and materials markets, the Board selected O’Neal Construction to help the Library develop the construction budget. The expertise O’Neal Construction brings to the project will help the Library control expenses and create a final design that can be built within the limitations of the Library’s financial resources.
The Alpine Street rendering of the new Library and the floor plans, represent the Library’s consolidation of the public input gathered over the course of its two-year planning period. In keeping with the character of the Village, the Library’s architects have maintained a traditional façade facing Alpine Street while transitioning the Library into an up-to-date facility. The architecture opens up on the southern face to capture the view across the park and the creek.
Main Floor
The floor plan (labeled above as Grade Level) represents the primary entrance to the Library. Community members will arrive to find a 48-car parking lot with easy access to the Library, a convenient pick-up and drop off area near the front entry and a drive-up book drop accessible by vehicle drivers. The Library hopes to create a pleasant seating area outside the Library, facing Alpine Street, to encourage pedestrian traffic to and from Main Street.
The main floor concentrates many of the busier functions of library service. On this floor, patrons will find convenient access to our new books and audio/visual materials. Separate areas for Young Adults and children will provide ready access to books, computers, study tables and comfortable reading areas. In addition to Internet access, the Library will provide computer terminals dedicated to accessing the Library catalog.
Separate circulation and reference areas allow for convenient check-out as well as better management of in-depth reference questions.
This floor will also house the picture book collection and provide parents and children ample areas to sit and read together. The Library will also provide a family restroom in this area. The Library’s expanded Story Time room will be located on this floor as well. A patio off the Story Time room will allow for outdoor programming as well as provide emergency egress.
The main floor will also house the bulk of the administrative offices and the network server room as well as areas for staff to process new materials and prepare programs, manage the Library’s growing shipping and receiving of Interlibrary Loan items and store requests for patrons.
Upper Level
Reached by an elevator that connects all floors, the upper level will contain the bulk of materials geared for research and recreational reading for adults. The Library’s reference collection, periodicals and newspapers will be shelved on this floor. Additionally, the Library’s collection of mysteries, westerns and general fiction will be shelved in this area. A reference desk will support patrons searching for materials in the collection as well as computer users. Ample comfortable seating will allow patrons to browse and enjoy the views from the Library across Warrior Creek Park and Mill Creek. This floor will also feature a quiet reading room segregated from the general noise in the Library as well as several small group-study rooms. Computer resources for adults will be available on this floor and the workstation configuration will allow the Library to use this area for future computer training classes. This floor will contain the remainder of the Library’s staff work spaces as well as the staffs break room.
Lower Level
The Library’s meeting room space will be concentrated on this level. The meeting room space will accommodate up to 200 people. This room can be divided to schedule multiple meetings at the same time. This space will greatly enhance the Library’s ability to host programs and events, regardless of weather conditions and to accommodate larger groups than is currently possible. The gallery space will allow break out space before and after meetings as well as space to hang coats. The Friends of the Library will have greatly expanded space to receive, sort, store and sell materials at their regular book sales. The remainder of this floor will hold building maintenance, storage, electrical and mechanical rooms. Larger format floor plans and the color rendering are currently on display at the Library.
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