Library site plan gets unanimous OK
Wed, Dec 12, 2007BY MARK BROOKY
mbrooky@grandhaventribune.com
Except for a few conditions, the $11.4 million building plan for Loutit District Library was given unanimous approval Tuesday night by the Grand Haven Planning Commission.
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"I think it is an exciting project and I'm glad to see it come to fruition," said commission Chairman Bob Monetza, who participated in last year's library design charrettes.
The commission's site plan approval clears the way for the construction project to begin early next year.
Kyle Copelin, of the architectural firm The Troyer Group that was hired to design the new library, said Tuesday's site plan OK means construction documents will be completed and turned over to the construction company by late January. Triangle Associates of Grand Rapids will manage the construction.
Library Director Sandie Knes said the library will be moved to a temporary location, a former grocery store at 1051 S. Beacon Blvd., in February. Asbestos will be removed from the old library in March and construction is scheduled to begin in early April.
The construction work will take a little more than a year, Knes said, and it is anticipated that the new library will open sometime in the summer of 2009.
"I think we did as well as we did tonight because The Troyer Group and the (city's) planning department have just been working together constantly, so all the issues that might have come up have already been addressed," Knes said after Tuesday's site plan approval. "The planning department has been very helpful."
Copelin said the Grand Haven staff has been the most cooperative city planning department he's ever worked with.
The project will nearly double the library's current 26,000-square-foot space. The building's exterior will be brick and glass, with blue metal peak roofs above the main flat roof.
The project also includes a parking garage under the second-story expansion where the library's existing parking lot is situated, and a 58-space parking lot across Fulton Avenue. A walkway crossing Fulton from the parking lot will meet a new Fourth Street entrance to the library.
City Planning Director Kristin Keery said the city's Community Center Board would like the library to maintain a pedestrian access between the two buildings, separated by a fountain. While the library's site plan showed that access blocked, one of the conditions of the Planning Commission's approval is to encourage the walkway between the properties to connect Fulton and Columbus avenues.
The library and Community Center were built together 40 years ago.
Other conditions of the commission's site plan approval include relief of parking lot setback requirements, and that the site meets city outside lighting and sign regulations.
In a companion measure, commissioners unanimously approved a nonbinding advisory motion to encourage the city's Department of Public Works to review and reconsider its decision to eliminate curb bumpouts on Fourth Street as part of the library's building plan. The bumpouts would serve as traffic calming measures.