Plans for $1.09 million remodel, expansion of Yachats Library getting close with possible groundbreaking in late summer

 

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews

YACHATS – Plans to expand and remodel the 49-year-old Yachats Library are proceeding smoothly – in spite of the turmoil at Yachats city hall — with the hope that ground can be broken in the late summer on a project that could take up to a year.

The city — through its Library Commission — has contracted with MD Architect + Design of Coburg and Michelle Pellitier of Eugene to design the exterior and interior of the new building. King West Inc. of Salem will do the construction.

The overall cost of the expansion – including furnishings, moving and storage costs, a solar system and other items – is $1.09 million, said commission chair David Rivinus. The project includes a complete remodeling of the existing 2,400 square foot structure and adding 1,200 square feet to the east.

The expansion is a 4-year-old project but gained momentum in 2020 when the city hired a consultant to map out the future of one of the city’s most popular services. The city was ready to embark on a modest 400-foot expansion, when Friends of Yachats Library got a $150,000 bequest to add to another $150,000 the city had been given years earlier.

With the consultant’s recommendation for a larger addition, the commission asked for a last-minute pause and then spent another year seeing if there was support – and money – for a bigger project.

The commission paused the project again in 2021 when the pandemic hit, the skyrocketing cost of labor and materials, and the departure of key city staff. It resumed planning in mid-2022.

Once the architects were solicited and selected, the project was refined by a work group comprised of two commission members, two former librarians and one library volunteer, with help from Yachats architect Linn West. A “design-build” concept that has the contractor involved from the start helps keep plans from spiraling out of control, Rivinus said.

In addition to the usual stacks of books, the remodel/expansion includes a room for community use, an area for teens and children, general seating, a computer area and two restrooms, one of which is handicapped accessible.

Rivinus said the cost of construction is estimated at $958,000. Another $140,000 will pay for furnishings, architect and engineering costs, design and the 31-panel solar system.

Compared to other city projects of this size, there has been no public or noticeable internal controversy and has gone smoothly through the city’s new capital improvement process with the guidance of capital projects coordinator Holly Hamilton. It helps that the city and library support group has $350,000 from the two bequests and other fundraising.

The Friends group took over grant-writing from the city and asked the Roseburg-based Ford Family Foundation for $250,000. A foundation staffer has visited, requested more information to present to the foundation board, which is expected to make a decision in May.

“The way we feel right now, things look favorable,” said Sandy Dunn, treasurer of the Friends group who worked with grant writer Meredith Howell on the application.

But there are other ways to make up a shortage of money should the foundation not award the full $250,000 – a possibility given the rise in interest rates and stock market downturn. The library has $80,000 in capital reserves and the city has already budgeted $338,000 this fiscal year for the project and $300,000 for fiscal 2023-24.

“Assuming we get a significant grant from the Ford Family Foundation we have every dollar we need,” Rivinus told YachatsNews.

The only potential glitch in the project is a late discovery that the city needs the Oregon Department of State Lands to see if the project will affect a small wetlands to the south – even though the building is not being expanded in that direction.

Rivinus told the Library Commission recently that it could be “an unperceived, potential delay” but should be OK if the city can get an agency staffer to visit the site.

Of course, a year-long project is not without some other logistical issues – and cost. The commission plans to put most of the library’s books, material and furnishings into heated storage. There are plans to use a room in the Commons to set up a computer for volunteers and to be able to check out a small number of the library’s most popular books. The emphasis, of course, will be to encourage use of the library’s new e-book system.

Once construction begins, Rivinus hopes that part of the work will take 6-8 months. He expects it to be a year before the library is fully operational.

“The planning part of this is just about done,” Rivinus said, with some last-minute tweaks still coming to the building. “Everybody wants this … and everybody has been heard.”

• To see the complete plans, go to the city website here

• Quinton Smith is the editor of YachatsNews.com and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com