Community meetings planned in coming weeks
The Westfield Washington Public Library plans to build a new library in downtown Westfield at Westfield Boulevard and Park Street. The location was approved by the Library Board at its meeting Wednesday night. The seven-acre property south of the Midland Trace Trail sits west of Westfield Boulevard.
“This new building will be a centerpiece in the heart of Westfield’s expanding downtown,” said Scott Willis, board vice president and building committee chair. “While the current building has served us well through the years, it doesn’t allow us room to grow and continue to meet the community’s burgeoning needs.”
Sollars
Willis
The current library on Hoover Street was built in 1983 and expanded in both 1994 and 2014. At 32,230 square feet, the current site doesn’t offer enough room for further expansion.
“Our biggest pain points are a lack of parking, insufficient study rooms, and demand for more programming space,” Library Director Sheryl Sollars said. “In fact, a feasibility study we conducted last year indicated it would actually cost us more to stay in our current location and make the upgrades necessary than to start from scratch.”
The 45,000 square-foot library’s construction and land costs will be covered by a $16.7 million general obligation bond scheduled to go before the Westfield City Council later this year. The bond will cause a 2-cent tax increase; however, the Westfield Washington School District plans to decrease its tax rate over the next several years allowing construction on the new library to be net neutral.
The soonest the tax-neutral bonds could be approved would be this fall. A groundbreaking could take place as soon as spring 2022 with completion in the fall of 2023. Although there are no firm design plans, KRM architects has been hired to help create a vision for the new building. Click here to review the site plan.
“Residents have told us they’d like to see more parking, drive-thru service, remote-working spaces, and a coffee shop,” Sollars added. “And in this current climate, we’d also like to include some courtyard space for outdoor activities.”
The library will host a series of public meetings in the coming weeks to keep the community informed about the new library’s progress. The first will be held at 7 p.m. on May 26.