Cook Memorial Library expansion plans progressing

Buoyed by a positive meeting with Libertyville's appearance review commission, Cook Memorial Public Library District board members on Tuesday directed architects to move ahead with plans to expand the main facility in Libertyville.

Plans for the simultaneous construction of a branch library building in Vernon Hills also are steaming forward, independently of the progress in Libertyville.

The library board told representatives from the Gilfillan Callahan and Nelson architectural firm to create construction and bid documents for the Libertyville proposal. The vote was 6-1; member Ann Oakley, who's frequently opposed the project, cast the "no" vote.

Architect Mike Gilfillan said Monday's discussion with the appearance commission, which advises the village board on aesthetic issues, went very well.

Commissioners voiced concerns about some aspects of the building's facade, Gilfillan said, but no questions were serious enough to stop the project.

"Where there was brick there will be glass in certain areas," Gilfillan told the library board. "I really think this will be a better design. These were good comments."

Library board President Aaron Lawlor, who attended the appearance commission talk, said he was impressed by the commission's questions and its attention to detail. He called the meeting "productive."

Architects will talk to the commission again July 21. The project needs village board approval, too, just as the Vernon Hills plan needs approval from that town's board.

The $14 million expansion plan calls for the addition of about 11,200 square feet to the main library on Milwaukee Avenue and the construction of a 20,000-square-foot building on Aspen Drive in Vernon Hills. About $7 million will be spent at each site.

Officials hope to ask builders for construction bids later this year.

The board plans to borrow $12 million and use $2 million in savings for the projects, and officials have said the financing won't require a tax-rate increase.