The 4th Community Meeting hosted by BPL and facilitated by Utile, the architectural firm charged with designing the new branch, was held virtually on December 4th and attended by more than 80 people including BPL staff, City Public Facilities Department staff, representatives from City Councilors’ offices, our South End Liaison to the Mayor’s office, team members/presenters from Utile, their landscape partner firm Arcadis, and many members of the community. 

A recording of the meeting and the presentation slides are available on the South End Library page of the BPL website found here.

Project Schedule

After the welcomes and introduction, Brett Bentson, project lead from Utile, shared the agenda which included the schedule for the project indicating we have entered the 12-month Design Phase to be followed by the Construction Phase, typically 20-24 months. 

Claudia Porras of Utlle recapped the previous three community meetings for any attendees who are new to the project.  Slides and recordings of these can be found on the South End Branch of the BPL website mentioned above.

The Park/Landscaping

In reviewing their approach to Library Park, James Kros of Arcadis, Utile’s landscape partner, explained they plan to preserve as it is with two exceptions:  expansion of nine feet into the park toward Rutland Street and three and a half feet into the alley to accommodate a somewhat larger building footprint.  Kros shared a diagram of service truck access via the alley and indicated that these footprint expansions will not affect existing access to the alley. 

The arborists report the trees are in good condition and they want to preserve the current vegetation and continuity of materials.  Plans include expanded seating (some paving changes required by the new building footprint), the planting of a magnolia tree at the new entrance, and plantings on the alley-side in place of the current sidewalk with potted trees. There is no plan to move/change the fences. 

The park will have to be closed during construction.  To protect it during this phase, there will be chain link fenced zones to separate mechanical vs manual earthwork areas for preservation of trees, roots, and the irrigation system which is still in use.  FOSEL will need to provide them with “as built” drawings of the irrigation system.

Shadow Analysis

Presentation of a shadow analysis of the proposed building for our four annual seasons indicated there will be no meaningful increase of shadows in the neighborhood.

Floor Plans

Porras shared the preliminary floor plans noting a 40% overall increase in space distributed across various areas such as the community room, the collection/reading zones, and central services.  The entrance door will face Tremont Street, and visually communicate its presence.  Just inside there will be a ramp of two and a half feet to bring the first floor up to the required flood zone level.  An elevator will be available just inside the door to bring people to either the first or second floor, where they will be greeted by staff stationed on both floors.

A significantly enlarged community room (double the current room with 104 seating capacity) and a large children’s room will occupy the first floor with the children’s area facing Tremont Street and the community room backed up to the wall adjacent to the alley.  Community members asked that attention be paid to balancing safety/security of the children with the desire to allow visibility in and out of the library through windows facing the street.  The Community Room will have storage, a sink, and water available, but there will be no kitchen facilities in the new building.  This is disappointing to FOSEL, particularly because the branch has a long history of including food at its programs.

The teen space will be on the second floor along with the adult collection/ reading areas adjacent to a staff desk so that these spaces can be properly monitored for safety and civility.

There is a third floor that consists of space for mechanical and electrical equipment and a staff storage area for library materials.

Sustainability

The overall goal is LEED Silver which is defined as a recognition of the project's initial steps toward minimizing its environmental impact. (Silver 50-59 points. The Silver certification level indicates that a project has surpassed the basic LEED requirements, achieving more than 50% of the available points.) 

 Specific goals mentioned include all electric (no fossil fuels), roof-ready for solar panels which will be installed after final construction, highly insulated structure, triple-glazed windows, and storm water capture to underground chambers for preserving wood piling foundations in the neighborhood.  Demand Ventilation based on room occupancy will be used for spaces within the building to ensure efficient use of HVAC.

 Q & A

What about a food pantry?  Some branch locations have this capacity, it was not yet clear if SEL would have this.

Art display is important and there will be walls and picture rails that will allow for this.  Rotating art exhibits are desirable.

Natural light is crucial and there will be lots of visual connections to the park, as well as from the outside to enable people to see what’s going on inside.  The façade on Tremont Street will have windows with natural light along the street and along the park.  The entrance will be visually evident from all angles and welcoming.

The SE History Collection will be housed in the adult area and easily accessible to patrons. Currently it has been moved to Central where Paul Wright can meet with Melissa Andrews, Collections Director, to help assess what’s there and how it might be made available in the new building.  The hope is for local authors and history materials to be “front and center” at the branch.

What about a Library of Things?  Central and other branches are incorporating this concept.  Foley mentioned telescopes and sewing machines as examples and suggested community members access the link on the branch web page to offer suggestions/ideas for what might be included in this exciting concept. https://www.bpl.org/library-of-things/

Utile explained in more detail how the bathrooms will be set up.  Both floors will have all-gender bathrooms which include two fully private, accessible ADA rooms plus individual private toilet rooms, and communal sinks.  In the children’s area there will be a family bathroom accessed within that space.

There will be additional community meetings as the design progresses, although no specific target dates were identified.