Evergreen library remodeling to start later this summer

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Final plans to remodel the Evergreen library have been submitted to Je erson County for permits, so construction can start later this summer.

e Je erson County Public Library board of directors approved the nal project and its costs in June, and the library on Highway 73 will be closed for about seven months. e closure date will be announced once the permits are obtained. e library district is negotiating to rent space for a temporary library in Evergreen, according to Executive Director Donna Walker.

One of the redesign’s priorities includes keeping the quiet reading room with the replace in the back of the building the same. e entry will be opened up, and sta space will be recon gured with a smaller service desk that faces the doors, kiosks for self-checkout for patrons, a work room and a break room.

An open teen area will be in the southeast corner of the building, and the children’s area will be recongured with larger spaces for story times and other children’s activities.

e community room will be enlarged, and additional small-group study rooms will be in the northeast corner of the building.

In keeping with the community’s wishes, the redesign will be in a traditional style that is warm, cozy, welcoming, light, natural and rustic. ere will be no changes to the building’s exterior. e project is about $500,000 over budget, which will be absorbed by the library system’s ve-year capital plan, Walker said, noting that she told the board that it was important to do the project right. However, some small changes will be made to areas not used by the community such as smaller windows to cut costs, she said. e $5 million project includes the consultant who conducted surveys and meetings to determine what the community wanted in its library, design and construction, furnishings and the temporary facility if the district can negotiate a contract. e library has 55,000 books, movies, audiobooks and other materials, according to Walker, and all will be stored in the basement during construction. e 17,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1993.

“A lot of resources are going up there,” Walker has said. “We are excited about this design. We began planning to redesign the Evergreen Library in 2011, and we’re going to get it done.” e pandemic delayed plans to remodel the building, which will not be expanded as part of the remodel.