Our second community meeting for the development of a new South End Library took place on February 12 at 6:30 pm virtually.

Meeting Highlights

Brett Bentson from Utile started off the meeting and introduced his team including the Spanish and Chinese translators. Then David Leonard, BPL President, introduced library staff and welcomed the elected officials and neighbors. He stated that the project is on an accelerated path and we are currently in the middle of the Feasibility Phase. To understand the bullets below please access the slides at https://www.bpl.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/02/2024-02-12_South-End-Library-Community-Meeting-2.pdf

• Our library location is in the flood plain and therefore requires a building that is 3 ft above the current floor level.

• While there were slides on the neighborhood characteristics, we did not discuss planning for future branch library needs/size, such as population increase/decrease or demographic changes.

• The program items include space for the local history collection.  Many of the ideas from the first community meeting were included in the feedback and the proposed building program, but they do not include a café or cooking area. 

• Three test fits were presented -– these are not designs but rather concepts for accommodating the square footage that the library program, as presented, requires.  All three involved increasing the square footage to over 15,000. 

• Only one allows for our park to remain with minimal change to the tree canopy. This was the 2-story new construction option.

• A third floor is not being considered by BPL, primarily due to staff constraints for monitoring activity in the space and concern about increased costs.

• The height requirement of the South End Landmark Commission is a minimum of 30 ft and can be higher.  Most of the buildings surrounding the current building are higher.

• An elevator would appear to be required in any of the options. 

• Now is the time for input as BPL and Utile hope to have a decision on the key direction for the new building by the next community meeting in the March/April time frame.  

Our Subsequent Written Request to BPL/Utile

In the presentation, Utile stated “It is important to test many different options during the feasibility study phase as a form of due diligence.”  Given this statement I would like to request a test fit for 3 stories to accomplish the following:

• Eliminate the using 8 ft from the alley which is already a tight space for servicing the library and residents using the alley.  

• Add a program element allowing for a kitchen/café multi-use space; this aligns with our community history of events and celebrations with food.

• Build the structure so that it can be increased upward beyond 3 stories, since we want this building to serve us into a 50+ year future.