The Seattle Public Library board of trustees will narrow the list of firms being considered for designing the new central library downtown at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22, at the Central Library, 1000 4th Ave., Lee Auditorium.
The decision will come after a 14-member architect advisory panel presents its recommended "short list" of three to five firms to the board. The meeting will include a public comment period both before and after the panel makes its recommendations.
Twenty-nine respected architects - several of them world-renowned - have entered the competition to build Seattle a new central library. A number of contenders already have designed major libraries elsewhere, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver and Vancouver, B.C. Although major national and international firms dominate the list, three of Seattle's best-known firms submitted statements of qualifications: NBBJ, designer of Safeco Field; LMN, designer of Benaroya Hall and Zimmer Gunsul Fransca Partnership, designer of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Past library design work was not a requirement, said Alexandra Harris, the Library's capital project director. "The key is to have done an excellent job on buildings of similar scale and complexity," she said. The short list of architect finalists will make public presentations at Benaroya Hall on May 10, when they will be given assignments. A public reception for the architects is scheduled for 7 p.m., Arctic Building, 700 3rd Ave., Dome Room that same evening.
The finalists will present results from their assignments at a May 12 public meeting at the Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Lee Auditorium. Following that process, the advisory panel will make a final architect recommendation to the Library Board. The board is tentatively scheduled to announce its final selection Tuesday, May 18.
The advisory panel includes: Phil Jacobson, retired principal from TRA and professor emeritus, University of Washington Department of Architecture; Rick Sundberg, FAIA, Seattle Design Commission chairman and principal of Olson/Sundberg Architects, Val Thomas, Planning Commission chairman, architect and developer; Janet Ketcham, community volunteer who serves on the executive of the Seattle Art Museum Board and is vice president of the board; Dennis Andersen, pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, Friends of the Seattle Public Library trustee and Landmarks Preservation Board member; Linda Saunto, librarian, Seattle Public Library and Library employees union representative;Clint Pehrson, Clint Pehrson Architects and member of Allied Arts; Tom Alberg, principal, Madrona Investment Group; Nora Jaso, principal, Studio Jaso architects; Norie Sato, artist; Ross Baker, attorney, AT &T Wireless; Paul Maritz, group vice president of Platforms and Applications for Microsoft Corp.; H. Jon Runstad, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Wright Runstad & Co. Matthew Stadler, author, is an alternate to the panel.
The new 355,000-square-foot central library is scheduled to open in 2003. A temporary location for the current library is currently being sought, since the new one will be constructed on the existing site at 1000 Fourth Ave.
Seattle voters overwhelmingly approved a $196.4 million bond measure to replace, renovate and build new libraries in November
(For more information, call Andra Addison, public information officer, at 206-386-4103, or andra.addison@spl.org.)
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Content modified: 21 April 1999
12/30/2005
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