Library expansion work could end in Spring 2009
It could take until late spring in 2009 for patrons to be able to use the expansion of Poplar Creek Public Library in Streamwood that voters approved in April.
The timetable for the $22.7 million expansion of the library's main site has been adjusted as officials accommodate changes in building design recommended by the village.
Streamwood's plan commission voted this week to recommend the expansion plan, on condition that the design of the exterior be upgraded. The village board is slated to consider the plan at 7 p.m. Sept. 20.
The construction plan will double the size of the 48,000-square-foot library at 1405 S. Park Ave.
Planning for the expansion began more than two years before the referendum, but the biggest decision made since has been to delay groundbreaking until spring.
Board President Susan Spooner said the delay should save money without significantly slowing down the project, as the library won't have to heat an exposed construction site all winter.
The plan now is to break ground on the expansion next spring, have it enclosed by the following October and then reopen the entire building in late spring 2009.
For about a year during the construction, all the library materials will be moved to a temporary location.
Because of the change of the start date of the construction, the use of the temporary site will not be needed at the very start of construction. A certain amount of work should be able to be done before the expanded building is connected to the existing one, probably in the late spring of 2008, Spooner said.
Meanwhile, the search for a temporary location goes on.
"I am determined to find something in our library district," Spooner said.
About 30,000 square feet of space will be needed for the temporary site, though the law doesn't require it to be in the district if nothing can be found there, she added.
The biggest change village officials asked for is in the expanded building's originally designed exterior of metal siding and stucco, Community Development Director John Peterson said.
The appearance of the siding and the lack of durability of the stucco were village officials' primary concerns, he added. A masonry exterior is desired for most new buildings today.
Architects already have come up with a revised plan for the exterior, made up of masonry from the ground up to 11 feet 4 inches.
"I think this really satisfies the concerns of the plan commission," Peterson said.
Spooner was confident the changes would be acceptable to library trustees as well.