Natrona County Library plans for future building

Valerie Hedlund, 4, watches and listens to a book being read on the Peek-A-Book machine at Natrona County Library on Wednesday morning. Photo by KERRY HULLER, Star-Tribune.

By CHRISTINE ROBINSON
Star-Tribune staff writer

As you cross over Poplar Street today, driving east on First Street, your main view is an open dirt field -- remnants of a different time in Casper.

If the Natrona County Public Library has its way, in three years you may cross the same bridge and see a new library. It could be two stories tall and roughly three times the size of the current building.

Library board members and staff said they knew they needed another building after completing a needs assessment in 2006. With only one conference room, as many as three groups each week have to meet somewhere else. Patrons park across the street and in other downtown lots because the library's limited spots are usually full.

The possible new library will be on 6 acres, instead of the current 1.5 acres, with 200 parking spaces instead of 65.

The library board does not know the exact cost of the building, but estimates it may be roughly $30 million. Board President Chris Mullen said the library will announce a figure before August.

In order to pay for the land and construction, the library hopes to use an additional sixth-cent sales tax. The tax is similar to the current fifth-cent, except that the revenue would only be used for the new library and it would expire once the funds are accumulated.

Bill Nelson, the library's director, estimates the tax to end after about 18 months.

This type of tax has never passed an election in Natrona County, but 13 other Wyoming counties have successfully used this kind of funding.

Cheyenne approved an expiring sales tax for its new library, which recently opened.

There are four main reasons the library needs to find a different home on a larger piece of land, Nelson said. The first is a need for a larger children's area. The current library has 26,236 books for youth; a new library would have more than 85,000 and be four times as large.

Improved technology is also a need, and the new building would allow for more than 40 more Internet terminals.

There would be several more small group meeting rooms and study rooms, as well as two program rooms seating between 75 and 250 people. The current building has one program room for 150 people.

The library board hired two architects to create the new building. Richard McCarthy, a principal for an Illinois-based architectural firm, will work with local architect Randall Hein.

McCarthy said another floor cannot be added onto the top of the current building because the base is not built to support the additional weight. This is why, he said, another library on a larger piece of land is necessary.

The library has reserved -- but not yet purchased -- the land that formerly housed American Pipeyard. If the tax proposal passes in November, Nelson said the library will be able to buy the land and begin construction.

There are no plans for the current building if a new one is built. Mullen said the county commissioners promised the revenue from the sale of the building will go back to the library and its programs and operations.

Mullen and other library board members, staff and architects are holding public input sessions for library patrons who have ideas about what should be in the new library. The first meeting was Wednesday night in the library's program room.

"In the end it's not my building or Bill's building," Mullen said. "It's the county's building and the community's building."

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com



NewsTracker

Last we knew: The Natrona County Public Library board chose a possible location for the new library on 435 W. First St., in the former American Pipeyard.

The latest: The board hopes to place a sixth-cent expiring sales tax on the November ballot to fund the new building.

What's next: Library board members and the project architects are asking Natrona County residents to give their input on the new library, and are holding a series of public meetings to hear ideas and desires.

Possible timeline

April 2008: Input from citizens and patrons of the library

November 2008: Funding measure goes to ballot

Early 2009: Design and planning phase

Mid-2009: Groundbreaking, if the measure passes

Mid-2010: Construction phase begins

Mid-2011: Grand opening

Speak up

For more information or to give input into the design, go to the Natrona County Public Library at 307 E. Second St., call (307) 577-7323, or visit www.natronacountylibrary.org/newlib/ideas.html