The Lillie M. Evans Library District
will be hosting a Groundbreaking Ceremony on Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at
1:00pm to mark the beginning of construction on our library expansion
project. The groundbreaking ceremony is
the culmination of many years of hard work by the library board, staff and
community members. The new addition will
address some of the needs that have arisen in the last decade by focusing on
the children’s area and community programming needs.
Currently, our children’s area has
little space to accommodate visiting children and few places for parents to sit
with children. In addition, heavily
attended library programs overfill the meeting room forcing attendees to stand
outside of the entrance doors. By expanding the library, we can move the
children’s area to a better sized location, and the addition of a larger
meeting room would provide more space for programming and an additional community
space. Accommodating community needs has
been a driving force for this project.
Donald Westlake from the architectural
firm of Craig Wright and Associates, is our lead architect. Mr. Westlake was the architect who designed
the 2001 addition. Our contractor, Bishop
Brothers, Inc., plans to have the project completed in 2017. The expansion
can be constructed with little impact on library operations. Construction updates will be posted regularly
on the library’s website at lmelibrary.org.
The expansion project will be financed
with grants, TIF funds, charitable gifts, and financing. There are no
plans to request a referendum. Library
funds have been used to pay for the property, the consultant and
architectural fees and will pay for part of the construction costs. In
addition, we have also been awarded a FY16 $125,000 Live & Learn
Construction grant (administered from the Secretary of State and State Librarian)
and an annual disbursement of $25,000 from Princeville Village TIF District.
Please contact the library for information on donating to the project.