An expansion project that will nearly double the size of the
Ocean Park Timberland Library is launching with a groundbreaking ceremony on
Wednesday, July 25 from 4 to 5 p.m.
Timberland Regional Library Board of Trustees members,
Library Manager Iver Matheson, Acting Library Director Gwen Culp, and local
dignitaries will participate in the public event. Light refreshments will be
provided by the Friends of the Ilwaco and Ocean Park Timberland Libraries in the
library meeting room after the ceremony.
The
project and need
An addition to the back (South) side of the library will
expand the interior space from 3,240 to 5,932 square feet. Construction is
expected to begin later this month and be completed by early 2013. Meanwhile,
the library will remain open throughout construction except for short periods
toward the end of the project.
“This project addresses the heavy use and congestion in the
current facility and builds a library that will meet the needs of the entire
community,” said Timberland Regional Library Acting Director Gwen Culp. The
population has outgrown its library, which is 27 years old. The library is an
active part of the community with a variety of groups using the meeting room,
programs such as monthly book discussions, and an annual youth summer reading
program currently in full swing. The expansion will relieve the crowding,
provide people the opportunity to linger comfortably, and allow library staff to
offer better service.
Short
history
“There has been a library in Ocean Park for over 125 years,”
said the library’s manager Iver Matheson. “It started as a small collection of
books moving from house to house. By 1940 the library had found a permanent home
in Ocean Park Elementary. In 1968, the library became part of the Timberland
Regional Library system,” said Matheson.
The current library was
built and opened in June 1985. The land on which the addition is being built was
purchased by TRL in 2000.
Highlights
of the new space
Improvements will include both new and expanded quiet reading
spaces, a separate teen area (currently part of the children’s area), a larger
children’s space, additional computer stations, and a larger staff workroom to
process library items. The project also will include additional shelving and all
new furnishings.
New seating areas in the back of the new space will provide
wooded views looking much they do today. In the vision for the future, but not
yet funded, is a patio and garden.
Cost and
funding
Timberland Regional Library chose the Holmberg Company’s bid
of $579,000 plus tax, which was the lowest. Holmberg is a Kirkland,
Washington-based construction company. The architect is Frank Densmore of the
Olympia-based Archos Corporation. As the Ocean Park library is a TRL-owned
facility, the cost will be paid by the library system.
The Ocean Park Timberland Library is located at 1308 256th
Place, Ocean Park. For more information, please contact the library at (360)
665-4184 or go to www.TRL.org.
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