Wasilla library turns page to next chapter

WASILLA — It may have taken two decades to get approval for a new public library, but now that city voters have given the OK to fund it, the project is on a fast track for completion.

Wasilla residents and library users met in September with architects to begin the design process in anticipation of getting a green light from residents in the Oct. 1 general election. Now that a 1 percent sales tax to fund up to $15 million of the $16.2 million project has passed, residents are primed to give feedback on a series of schematic design sketches of the new library. Architects with ECI/Hyer Architecture will meet with the public beginning at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday to gather input on site layout and floor plans for the building, to be constructed on land donated by the Mat-Su Borough at the intersection of Swanson Avenue and Crusey Street.

During a Sept. 18 meeting, residents told the architects they favor a site that allows for dual access points to the library — off both streets — and a site layout that incorporates the site’s natural beauty.

“This is big-picture stuff,” architect Brian Meissner said at that first meeting. “We met with several people who were involved with the space needs group, … then we met with city planning. The idea is we come back in a couple weeks with some initial thoughts.”

Those initial thoughts will be presented Wednesday, where the public will be asked to weigh in on floor plan options for the 23,500-square-foot building, including accounting for future needs and efficiency of operations. There also is work to be done on the site layout, including gathering input on how the building, parking, driveways and open spaces can work to maximize site and building use.

After the final count of this month’s general election ballots, the library funding measure passed with 53 percent of the vote, 528 to 460. That means the sales tax rate for the city of Wasilla will increase from 2 percent to 3 percent in January 2014, with that extra 1 percent dedicated solely to the library project. The tax will sunset after three years or when $15 million is raised, whichever comes first. The city continues to lobby the state for a grant to pick up $8.2 million of the library’s cost, so there is potential for the sales tax to sunset after about $6.8 million is collected.

When built, the new Wasilla Public Library will more than triple the city of the city’s library, from about 7,300 square feet to 23,500 square feet, and will nearly double its capacity to hold items from about 53,000 to 90,000. It also will expand its technology from seven public computers to more than 40, including laptops on a wireless network that can move about the facility as people work on them.

Although a final timeline for opening the new library hasn’t been set, the city has said that following a successful sales tax vote, the facility could be completed and opened as early as 2016. At the Sept. 18 meeting, Meissner said that passing the ballot measure would spark a “12- to 13-month process” of public participation to plan the building.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.

What: Wasilla Public Library schematic design meeting.

Why: To gather public input on site layout and floor plan options for a new 23,500-square-foot library.

When: 4:30 to 6: 30 p.m., Oct. 23.

Where: City council chambers at Wasilla City Hall, 290 E. Herning Ave.