The Seattle Public Library board of trustees has selected Weinstein Copeland Architects to design the new Montlake Library. The board made its unanimous choice at its April 23 meeting.
The Seattle-based architectural firm was among four firms that a community advisory panel interviewed.
Gilbert W. Anderson, who is the Library Board's steward for the Montlake Library and also served on the advisory panel, said panelists were impressed with the firm's thorough understanding of the neighborhood.
"We feel very comfortable that Weinstein Copeland can do a wonderful job for the library," Anderson said.
Weinstein Copeland won high marks from the panel for its quality design, its approach toward weighing the urban context of a neighborhood and its commitment to working with the community. The panel also appreciated the firm's history of completing successful urban projects with limited budgets.
Weinstein Copeland Architects, founded in 1986, focuses on designing timeless, cost-effective buildings for institutions, commercial enterprises and single-family residential clients. The firm has designed the Banner Building in Belltown, the West Police Precinct/911 Communications Center, Temple de Hirsch Sinai Eastside Synagogue in Bellevue, the Holly Park Redevelopment Phases I & II, several projects for the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood and The Majestic Bay Theater in Ballard.
Seventeen firms applied to design the new 5,000-square-foot building. An advisory panel that included Montlake residents reviewed proposals and conducted interviews.
Community representatives who served on the panel included Montlake residents: Lyle Bicknell, father of two daughters and an urban designer for the city of Seattle; Ellen Santarelli, mother of two young children and a speech language pathologist; and Laura Gardner, an architect and mother of two young library users.
Nearly 150 Montlake residents attended a public reception on April 16 to meet the designers from Weinstein Copeland, along with architects from three other finalist firms. The architects displayed samples of their work and answered questions.
The new $2.58 million library, which is scheduled to open in 2004, will have an updated and expanded collection of 18,700 books and materials, more seats, a meeting room, upgraded technology services and equipment, and parking. The current 1,574-square-foot library is located in a converted retail store at 2300 24th Ave. E. The new library will be built on the northwest corner of 24th Avenue East and East McGraw Street.
The budget for the new library originally was $2,573,000. At its April 23 meeting, the Library Board revised the budget to $2,583,000, to reflect $10,000 in supplemental art funding from the Seattle Public Library Foundation.
Voters approved the new library as part of the $196.4 million "Libraries for All" bond measure passed in 1998. The plan calls for improving or replacing all 22 branch libraries, building five new branches and building a new central library.
The 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, at 206-615-1627.)
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Content modified: 24 April 2002
12/30/2005
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