Northpinellas: Public to pore over library

CLEARWATER -- Whether you think the proposed design of the city's new main library is a timeless architectural statement or a plan fit for a prison, the city wants to hear your opinion.

Starting today, the city is holding public information sessions on the proposed design of the $20.2-million downtown library, which Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York City has envisioned with a contemporary wavy roof line and soft pink stone walls.

People can come any time during the sessions to examine artist's renderings of the proposed design, ask questions and critique the building, said library director John Szabo.

More sessions are scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. for the following days and locations: Monday at the main library; May 29 at the East Library, 2251 Drew St.; and May 30 at the Countryside Library, 2741 State Road 580.

"It's our bluff, it's our library, and I want the community to be pleased with what's built there," said Szabo, who said that he hopes residents will take advantage of the opportunity to comment on the library's design.

So far there has been some criticism, which concerns city officials.

Some people have compared the design to a "latter-day car wash" and a "warehouse," suggested the look of the building could be quickly dated and said the proposed image would be "an embarrassment" to the city, according to letters sent to the St. Petersburg Times.

Ric Ortega, a neighborhood activist who lives in Skycrest and is an architectural designer, wrote to interim City Manager Bill Horne this week to say the city should have held public comment sessions before the design was created.

Ortega said that the roof line seemed too trendy and would encourage other "cutting edge" architecture in the downtown that was contrary to a more traditional style present in some of downtown's most notable buildings.

Ortega wrote, "The intent of our downtown guidelines is clear: that it be enhanced with structures of a certain feel that is more universal in its time period . . . a little more traditional in form."

Szabo said people were probably expecting a copy of one of downtown's other landmarks, such as Calvary Baptist Church or the downtown post office, so they were surprised by the design.

But Szabo said that he feels the design does everything the city wanted it to do: It is functional, innovative and creates a signature building. It also includes a lot of windows on the west side to take advantage of views across Clearwater Harbor from the library's hilly perch on the city's downtown bluff.

However, Szabo said the design could be reworked to satisfy the public if the reviews aren't good.

The City Commission, based on the next few weeks of public input, ultimately will make the decision to approve the library's design or send it back to the city's architects for more work, Szabo said.

In addition to public sessions, the city has posted images of the library design on its Web site, Szabo said, with a link for people to send him their comments about it. The address is www.clearwater-fl.com/cpl/.

The 90,000-square-foot library is to be built at the corner of Osceola Avenue and Drew Street. It will be double the size of the existing library, which will be knocked down. It is slated to open in September 2003.

Stern, the dean of the Yale University School of Architecture, is the design architect for the new library. Stern's firm is working with Harvard Jolly Clees Toppe Architects of St. Petersburg. The city hired the firm to coordinate the project.

If you go

The first public session on the proposed design of the new main library will be from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the main library at 100 N Osceola Ave.

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