By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
The Yachats Library Commission will ask the City Council in March to help it move forward with a much larger expansion of the city’s library than previously planned.
The five-member commission voted unanimously Friday to ask the council to hire an architect or engineer to work up drawings and estimates for a 1,200 to 1,400 square-foot expansion of the 2,300-square-foot library on West Seventh Street.
The City Council in 2019 had already approved a 400-square-foot expansion of the library, using some city funds and a $150,000 bequest to the city several years ago from the Hall family. But that plan was halted after Marguerite Peterson surprised library supporters with a similar $150,000 bequest, and the commission sought to leverage both gifts to seek more donations and grants to make the library a bigger and better place.
That goal was supported in December with the completion of a consultant’s report that suggested a host of improvements for the organization and its 47-year-old library – including a 1,380-square-foot expansion.
Commission Chair David Rivinus said Friday the commission needs to regain the excitement from the smaller expansion approved in 2019 and the consultant’s report in December.
“We really had momentum at one point … this is an attempt to get back up to speed,” he said.
Before discussing expansion options, Rivinus outlined for the commission – which has three new members — four important considerations to factor in its decision:
- To come as close as possible to the size of the expansion recommended by the consultant;
- To find a plan as cost effective as possible;
- To develop a plan that does not disturb the wetlands to the south of the property; and
- To honor the strong sentiment in the consultant’s survey of the community to preserve the “charming and rustic nature” of the current building.
The commission quickly ticked through a list of 10 expansion possibilities, ranging from 400- or 800-square-foot expansions (too small) to moving to the Commons (needed permission, not enough connected space) to demolishing the current building and constructing a two-story library (way too expensive) or moving to the old fire station on West Second Street (very expensive, no parking).
An expansion that would move the library’s east wall to the fence of the city’s wastewater treatment plant would add 1,200 square feet, Yachats community services coordinator Heather Hoen told the commission. It’s also likely the building could be expanded to the south by 200 square feet, she said.
A tall concrete wall along the border with the treatment plant would be without windows, but be strong enough to be lined with bookshelves. The trail leading to the wetlands from Seventh Street could be moved to the south and west sides of the property, Hoen said.
“If we’re going to do this, let’s do it all,” said commission member Marion Godfrey. “Get the biggest bang for the buck.”
The commission needs City Council approval for an architect or engineer to draw preliminary plans and get a construction estimate. Once it has a plan and estimates, the commission wants to seek grants and likely use a professional fundraiser to cover the remaining costs – after a city contribution and the two bequests – of the larger expansion.