A concrete shortage is a mere bump in the road as electrical work starts and construction continues, the builder says, on schedule.
By LORRI HELFAND
Published June 25, 2004
[Times photo: Scott Keeler]
The front of the new Largo Library begins to take shape. The library is expected to be finished in about a year.
LARGO - Clearwater opened its cutting-edge library just last month. Largo Library's debut is still a year away.
But city leaders aren't worried about how Largo's new $21-million library compares with the four-story Clearwater Library's massive windows and magnificent views of the Intracoastal Waterway.
Libraries don't have to conform to a cookie-cutter look "like McDonald's or Publix," Commissioner Gay Gentry said. "(The libraries) need to fit the setting that they're in, and they have to have their own personality. Both the Clearwater Library and the Largo Library will have just that."
Location also influenced design approaches on each project, Assistant City Manager Henry Schubert said.
Clearwater Library's downtown home and limited acreage made it conducive to a smaller footprint and a taller building, while Largo Library's sprawling parkland locale made it more practical to build outward.
According to city staff and Belleair-based Biltmore Construction, in charge of the project, the project is on schedule.
But the construction team did have to do a bit of creative scheduling to deal with a recent worldwide shortage of concrete.
"It has affected us slightly but the concrete shortage came along later in our schedule so it did not impact the main part of work that required concrete," said Ken Prater, project superintendent.
The project is also on budget, said Assistant City Manager Henry Schubert.
"We are very pleased with the progress and quality of the work to date," he said.
In September, the two-story, 90,300-square-foot, facility broke ground east of Largo Central Park. By March, block wall construction for the first floor was done and workers were placing steel reinforcement and forming the concrete entry tower.
Now, most of the concrete walls are up. The concrete structure for the entry tower has been built and electrical work has begun. Thursday afternoon, several contractors were on site: iron workers attached structural steel for the roof, while one crew erected concrete columns and another installed duct work.
By next month, Prater expects plumbers to be running potable water lines, workers applying stucco to begin, and installers for windows and roofers to be in various stages of completion.
A year from now, the two-story facility will integrate classic and modern elements. The building's exterior will mix stucco with split-faced and burnished block in earthy tones.
The structure will feature traditional pitched aluminum roofs over library wings and trellises that mirror the porches of neighborhood architecture. The building will also have a progressive trademark tower, which will be lighted at night, and curved roofs over the entry tower and corridor that connects all four wings.
Inside, the decor will be a mix of warm neutrals with brushed aluminum accents and a splash of subdued blue. The walls will be painted beige or bone and feature two tones of cherry wood. The easy-to-replace carpet squares will be oatmeal or tan with dark gray and brown accents. The children's area will have a more vivid feel, with touches of lime green, red and purple.
The great outdoors will be part of the building's ambience, too. Natural light will flood the library through its 312 windows. And patrons will be able to escape to a landscaped courtyard featuring a mini amphitheater and gazebo.
Michele D'Avico, development specialist, said the new facility will have plenty of room to accommodate the library's collection of 225,000 books, cassettes, DVDs, CDs and videos.
The general collection wing will house fiction, periodicals, non-fiction, genealogy, the business and career centers, an audio visual collection, a quiet reading room and an art gallery.
The Wilfrid and Lola Faucher Wing will contain the children's collection, complete with indoor porches, a computer center and program rooms.
The Jenkins Family Community Wing will have a meeting space that can be converted into three separate rooms, plus a cafe and public lounge.
Besides offices, the administration wing will house the Friends of the Library bookstore and teen rooms.
In addition to $1.9-million in private donations, Largo's original financing plan for the library included $1-million in grants and $18-million from Penny for Pinellas sales tax funds, most of which will be financed by borrowing against a portion of projected collections of that tax.
D'Avico said the library's capital campaign is also on target, collecting $1.4-million of its $1.9-million goal to pay for furnishings and fixtures.
But with $500,000 still to go, D'Avico said she's desperate for volunteers and local support.
"This is going to be the toughest part of all to raise," she said. "We really need the whole community to come together."
