The Seattle Public Library board of trustees has selected ARC Architects to design the expansion of the Lake City Library. The board made its unanimous choice at its May 23 meeting.
The Seattle-based ARC was recommended to the board by a community architect selection advisory panel that reviewed proposals and conducted interviews. Fifteen firms applied to design Lake City's $2.9 million expansion project.
"Our goal was to match the skills of the firm with the particular assignment," Alexandra Harris, the Library's capital program director, told the board. ARC clearly recognized the importance of being sensitive to the design of the existing building, which was built in 1965. "Adding to the building is not going to be easy," she said.
ARC Architects, founded in 1976, is well known for its experience in public sector work, particularly in the design of community and senior centers. It designed the NewHolly Community Facilities for the Seattle Housing Authority, which includes the NewHolly Library, as well as the Tukwila Community Center, Eckstein Community Center, Northshore Senior Center and South Park Community Center.
Community representatives who served on the advisory panel include: Jeff Girvin, a landscape architect and member of the Seattle Design Commission; Andree Teschera, who works in the printing, photography and retail industries and is a volunteer at the Lake City Library, local PTA and Camp Fire; Anthony Aegerter, a longtime resident who is interested in ensuring library service to the area's diverse population; Jean Van Oss, who has used the library for 12 years; and Hazel Evans, a retired librarian and longtime Lake City Book Club member.
Scores of residents attended a reception on May 15 to meet the architects from ARC, along with architects from two other finalist firms. The architects displayed samples of their work and answered questions.
The expansion, which will add nearly 6,000 square feet to the 9,000-square-foot library, will feature a multipurpose room, as well as enhanced study areas and more space for books. It is scheduled to be completed in 2002.
The expansion is part of the $196.4 million "Libraries for All" bond measure that Seattle voters passed in 1998 to upgrade the Library's 109-year-old system. The plan calls for improving or replacing all 22 branch libraries, building three new branches and building a new central library. For more information about Libraries for All, visit the Library's Web site at www.spl.org and select "Libraries for All capital projects."
(For more information, call Caroline Young Ullmann, communications assistant, 206-615-1627.)
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Content modified: 24 May 2000
12/30/2005
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