Designers want to know what Palmer wants in its rebuilt public library

The designers of a new public library for Palmer are taking the community’s pulse on what it should look like and how it will feel, and what a public library should be these days.

The library design team, led by Wolf Architecture of Palmer, was at Palmer’s city council meeting last Tuesday, Sept. 12, to talk about engagement with the community on design and engineering of a new library to replace the one destroyed last winter when its roof collapsed due to heavy snow.

One question, posed by city council member Richard Best, is whether parts of the old building can be salvaged and whether that would reduce costs.

Gary Wolf, of Wolf Architecture, said the final answer to that isn’t in from the engineers but there was extensive damage to the old building and it might be a toss-up on whether to try rebuilding or to just replace.

The foundation could likely be used but a lot of the building structure will have to be ripped out. Its mechanical and electrical systems, aged even before he accident, will need a complete replacement.

“We’ve had a lot of remodeling experience,” Wolf said, and the assumption going in is that there could be a five percent or 10 percent savings compared with a complete rebuild. A big advantage of a rebuild is that it can be designed to meet the community’s newer needs, he said.

Wolf, Laura Reed, also of Wolf Architecture, and Angie Brose, a library consultant, have been soliciting questions from the community starting with a display in the temporary Palmer library. “We’re asking what people think the library space would look like? What should a library experience be like?” Brose told the city council.

Question boards and other displays, including visuals of possible indoor spaces, were featured at the last Palmer “Friday Fling,” the weekly community event held at Friday mid-day during the summer. To date the group has received between 1,000 and 1,500 responses to questions and comments, Brose said.

The group also met with small focus groups in the community for more in-depth discussions, including staff at the library. “We wanted to hear their ideas about how the workspace should be configured,” she said.

A lot of information has come in, but “certain major themes have emerged. In terms of interior space people want space for meetings and childrens’ areas, and natural light,” Brose told the city council. All of the information will be combined in final form, with each space identified for its use and size, including furnishings and things like electric outlets and plug-ins for electronic devices, she said.

A larger community event is also planned Sept. 21 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Depot, the Palmer community meeting space. Displays will be set up, questions asked and answered, and a discussion held.

The conversations will be important, council member Best said. “What does a public library to people now? Forty years ago, it was different. What was right then might not be right now, or for the next 40 years,” he said.

Meanwhile, an important action the council took was to formally accept a $2.46 million grant from the Mat-Su Borough to build an extension of the city sewer and water system to Colony Middle School and Colony High School, which will also serve nearby residential areas. The city has authority to build its water and sewer system beyond the city limits

The borough had unused pandemic aid money and through a federal rule change could have used it for anything, Palmer city manager John Moosey said, but chose to give the money to Palmer.

A similar grant was given to the city of Wasilla. “This is a good example of local governments working together,” Moosey said. It is important because it will be the first stage of a sewer and water system interconnection between Palmer and Wasilla, a long-term goal for both communities.