Library goes out to bid
September 2, 2010
By Tim Pfarr
New facility to break ground at end of month
The King County Library System put the construction of the Newcastle Library out to bid Aug. 17.
KCLS Director Bill Ptacek said the bidding process would take four weeks, and groundbreaking would be near the end of September.
The Newcastle Library, which went out to bid last month, is finishing the permitting process and will soon break ground. Contributed
Ptacek and KCLS Director of Facilities Development Kay Johnson announced the news at the Aug. 17 City Council meeting, and the audience responded with applause. Construction is still slated to take about a year, yielding a fall 2011 opening.
KCLS is now finishing the permitting process with the city and working with Puget Sound Energy to move utilities underground on 129th Avenue Southeast.
The final design of the library calls for 11,500 square feet of floor space and 7,500 square feet of plants on the green roof. The building will use radiant floor heating, which channels hot water under the floor to heat the building. The size of the workroom has also been reduced, adding 400-500 more feet of study space.
“The interior is being developed and it looks really, really stylish and very beautiful,” Johnson said at the meeting.
The library will also have seven times the standard amount of space for items put on hold, and it will have 20 fixed computer stations and empty spaces known as “cyber bars,” where patrons can bring their own computers and work.
Outside, the library’s walls facing Newcastle Way and 129th Avenue Southeast will be predominately glass.
“Day-lighting is a key way for us to try to save energy costs for the future,” Johnson said.
The building also will feature an exterior water retention tank that will hold more than 10,000 gallons of water. There will be 44 parking stalls, and some will be short-term spaces for patrons just stopping by to return items. An elevator will take patrons from the garage to the library.
Furthermore, there will be a rain garden located at ground level near 129th Avenue Southeast.
The library is funded by a $172 million bond measure passed in 2004 that called for expansion and maintenance of the library system. The bond called for a library to be built in Newcastle, and KCLS had planned to build a mixed-use facility with developer Lorig Associates.
However, Lorig was unable to finance its portion of the project, and this spring, KCLS moved forward by itself, leaving Lorig’s space on the south end of the property vacant.
Renton Highlands Library
The Renton Highlands Library, 2902 N.E. 12th St., Renton, which became part of the library system earlier this year, will soon move to a larger location. KCLS officials may meet with the Renton City Council this fall to discuss new locations for the library.
“We’re just in the preliminary stages right now,” Ptacek said. “We hope that sometime before the end of the year, the city will make some decisions on the location.”
He said the Renton Highlands Library has been popular since joining the system, and this may be due in part to Newcastle residents using the facility.
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