Arlington Heights library parking lot project starts Tuesday
Construction starts Tuesday on the Arlington Heights Memorial Library's $1.1 million parking lot renovation project, which will close some entrances and portions of the garage between now and September.
As the upgrades will be done in phases, library officials hope the impact to patrons will be minimal.
The project, approved by the library board in May, will include clearly identified pedestrian walkways, improved wayfinding and off-site parking signage, new lighting throughout the garage, automatic doors at the main building entrance, better vehicle entrance and exit points, and resurfacing the lot.
Phase one includes framing of the facade of the underground garage entry, so access to the bike rack on the east side of the garage will be unavailable through Friday. Additional bike racks are west of the garage and near the Dunton Street entrance.
Major construction on the north end of the garage lot is set to begin Monday and is expected to last about seven business days.
That means the garage-level library building entrance near Dunton will be closed and the return materials drops and parking spots on the north end will be unavailable. The main Dunton building entrance will remain open, officials said.
Additional parking will be available in the Metra commuter lot and on Dunton and Vail Avenue.
On or around Aug. 9, construction will move from the underground garage to the main building entrance door and parking lot entrances on St. James Street. Signage will redirect drivers to the Vail lot entrance.
Starting Aug. 23, the entire garage will be closed for two to three weeks.
As a result of construction, library officials have extended the materials loan grace period from three to 10 days between July 31 and the end of the project, expected in late September.
A new temporary book drop will be installed at the Olympic Swim Center at Euclid and Ridge avenues. Existing book drops are at: Camelot Park, 1005 E. Suffield Drive; Frontier Park, 1933 N. Kennicott Drive; and the Senior Center, 1801 W. Central Ave. The library's book drop and entrance on Dunton will remain open.