PCL Construction Services Inc. is scheduled to begin work on Monday, Feb. 2, on the new Ballard Branch of The Seattle Public Library and the Ballard Neighborhood Service Center.
The new 15,000-square-foot branch, 3,000-square-foot neighborhood service center and underground parking garage will be built on a site at 22nd Avenue Northwest and Northwest 57th Street that was formerly occupied by U.S. Bank.
First steps are to fence the site and start hazardous materials abatement work before demolishing the former bank building.
The new branch will have more seats, expanded reference areas, larger areas for children and young adults, more computer space, a meeting room and parking. It also will have an updated collection capacity of 66,700 books and materials. The existing 7,296-square-foot Ballard Branch at 5711 24th Ave. N.W. was built in 1963.
The new branch and neighborhood service center are expected to open in mid-2005.
Architects at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson designed the building to take advantage of natural light and to create a civic presence. The roof will reach to the north to bathe the interior with indirect light and a lower roof section will provide an intimate scale for reading and study areas along the north wall. A covered porch area will provide a civic face along the main pedestrian corridor of 22nd Avenue Northwest.
A durable “green roof” will be planted with a variety of low-maintenance plant material to slow the flow of rainwater into the storm drain system, reduce the emission of heat and provide a more attractive view from taller buildings if density increases in the area. Images of the design may be viewed at http://www.spl.org/lfa/neighborhoodlibs/ballard/ballarddesigns.html.
The building also will include artwork by Fall City artist Donald Fels, who is looking at ways to collect information from the building’s micro and macro climates and translate it into a visual element within the building.
The new $10,938,258 branch is part of the $196.4 million “Libraries for All” bond measure that Seattle voters passed in 1998. The bond money, which can be used only for construction of libraries, is funding a new central library and new and improved branches. Funding sources for the $1,616,000 neighborhood service center include the $72 million Seattle Center/Community Centers levy that Seattle voters passed in 1999, and the city’s Cumulative Reserve Subfund and Neighborhood Matching Fund.
To date, the Library has completed the Capitol Hill, Delridge, NewHolly, Rainier Beach and Wallingford branches. The renovated Green Lake Branch is scheduled to reopen March 6. The Central Library and the Ballard, Beacon Hill, Columbia, Greenwood, High Point, Lake City, North East, and West Seattle branches are currently in the construction phase and planning and design is under way for many other branches.
The Seattle Public Library Foundation is in the midst of a “Campaign for Seattle’s Public Libraries” with the goal of raising $77.5 million from private sources to enhance the public bond commitment. Every dollar raised will ensure the Library system reflects our community’s needs in buildings, books, technology and people, long into the future. For more information about “Libraries for All” or the Foundation, visit the Library’s Web site at www.spl.org.
(For more information, call Caroline Young Ullmann, communications assistant, 206-615-1627.)
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Content modified: 2 February 2004
12/30/2005
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