Gail Borden Library work will go on

Gail Borden Public Library officials say they now are eyeing the end of the year to begin construction of a new branch on Elgin's west side.

Officials say they had hoped to begin work on the 10,000-square-foot building sometime in July, but planning issues have pushed the start date to October or November -- with completion still set for 2008.

"There's been a lot of work going in on this," library Director Carole Medal said. "It certainly has been moving along as fast as it can."

The library board was scheduled to hear an update on the project at Tuesday night's board meeting.

"Our work is far from over," Medal said. "We've got to determine the selection of materials, how it's laid out, staffing, the hours it will be open."

Some of those decisions will be left for later. But Medal said the library's building committee will have to decide in the short term how to proceed with construction.

Voters in 2000 approved $4 million in construction bonds for the branch library, to be built on four acres near Bowes and Randall roads in Elgin.

And while the library district still is in good shape with its construction budget, Medal said costs have been coming in a little higher than anticipated.

Some of the cost increases may be because of the library board's decision to build a "green" building, powered by a geothermal energy system.

Medal said it will now be up to the building committee to review the plans and see whether officials need to tweak their design.

"That's why you have to analyze it," she said.

Library officials may have pushed back their construction timeline, but they haven't budged in their commitment to the project.

"It's necessary," library board member Jean Bednar said. "The attendance in our library is just going up exponentially."

Bednar said she expects the new branch will be pretty popular with all of the growth to the west.

"Hopefully kids can ride their bikes there, people can walk," she said. "I think it's going to be great. I hope we need a bigger building in the future."