09/10/2013

Portland architects chosen to help continue planning for future library

The Town Council on Sept. 9, 2013 authorized an expenditure not to exceed $20,000 for architectural services for the Library Planning Committee.

Committee members have chosen Reed & Co. Architecture of Portland to help the committee plan for the future of the Thomas Memorial Library. The committee, established in February of this year, was charged with preparing a plan for public library services and facilities to serve Cape Elizabeth for the next 25 years.

"We've reached a point in our process now were we're ready to hire an architectural firm to come and help us do some work on programming," said Molly MacAuslan, a library trustee and chair of the planning committee.

Much of the firm's task will be to review information gathered during previous library planning studies, including a list of building and programming deficiencies identified in a 2009 report.

Tasks will also include:

• Reviewing and helping gather input from the public; the Library Planning Committee, library director and staff; and from the school community.
• Developing a preliminary building program and space allocation plan, and compare it to existing space allocation.
• Using the proposed space allocation to develop a preliminary "concept plan". MacAuslan called the plan "very" preliminary because decisions such as new construction vs. renovation, and one-story vs. two-stories have not yet been made.
• Preparing a project budget based on the building program.
• Assisting the Library Planning Committee in presentations to the community.

MacAuslan said the firm was chosen among four finalists because of their knowledge and experience helping plan Maine libraries. In their proposal, Reed & Co. cited libraries in New Gloucester, Harrison and on Peaks Island as recent examples. "They are a small firm and have worked on I think 20 public libraries in the last 30 years," MacAuslan said. "It was a hard choice to make but I think the final decision was the right one."

Frank Governali, town councilor who also serves on the Library Planning Committee, said one of Reed & Co.'s strengths was their experience with towns like Cape Elizabeth. "Many of the projects had been going on for 5-10 years before the towns could really come to grips with what they were going to do," Governali said. "And they had this intuitive sense of what we needed which made them very appealing as a firm to work with," he said.

Last November, voters rejected a proposal to bond up to $6 million for a new Thomas Memorial Library. The space and programming needs of the library, however, have been on the Town Council's annual list of goals since 2007, when it was included as a public facilities goal of the 2007 Comprehensive Plan.

The current committee is building on the work of a previous study committee. "It's a very different process this time," MacAuslan said. "I hope we'll be very inclusive of various points of view within the community, but I think we also are very aware of what went to the voters last time, and I think we're being somewhat more cautious and more conservative about how we approach the project," she said. The current committee includes three town councilors and a School Board member, as well as MacAuslan's representation of the library trustees.

"My own two-cents," said MacAuslan: "I want the right solution. I don't want an overpriced and oversized solution, nor do I want a short-sighted solution ... whatever we plan for it needs to be the right solution and it needs to be the right solution for the long term."

On Aug 29, approximately 70 people attended a public input session at the High School library, MacAuslan said.

The library planning account has a balance of $107,000, funded by unassigned general-fund balance. Town Manager Michael McGovern said $15,000 of the $20,000 authorized would go toward the contract with Reed & Co., and $5,000 to possibly be used later for a rendering of what the building might look like.