By BEN NORRIS, Staff Writer June 02, 2008
UTAZ Development, UTAZ Development plans to build an 8,085-square-foot library — shown in this artist’s rendering — at Smith-Enke Road and Desert Greens Drive in Maricopa.
MARICOPA - Community Services Director Marty McDonald says a library is the single-greatest civic investment a city can make.
Now, after four years of research and planning, the City Council unanimously has approved a location for the city's first permanent public library with a 5-0 vote May 21.
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday at Smith-Enke Road and Desert Greens Drive.
"Our goal is to be open sometime between December and January," McDonald said. "We're starting with a dirt field. It's going to be a 100 percent new building, our first brick-and-mortar library."
The council awarded the contract to Gilbert-based UTAZ Development, which will be paid $1.9 million for the 8,085-square-foot building.
The city estimates the total capital costs of the new library at $3.2 million and plans to hire an assistant library manager and two full-time library assistants.
Currently, more than 17,000 items are crammed into a 1,550-square-foot converted army barracks, donated in the 1980s and supported by volunteers before Maricopa became a city.
"We have definitely outgrown that location," McDonald said.
He approached the council claiming the city was "grossly deficient" in meeting the minimum standards of staff, book collection and size. The former army barracks, he said, is old and outdated.
McDonald said he wants to devote an area of the new library to small business, providing educational material to help owners and entrepreneurs navigate the complications of owning a business. The new library will also house a history room.
Computer services are going to be expanded at the new location. Currently, four computers are crammed into a space smaller than the average walk-in closet. Two additional computers are in the front lobby.
The bulk of the library's books are packed into one room, where the children's area backs up to an aisle too small to push a wheelchair through.
The new library will be part of a UTAZ development called Maricopa Grand Professional Village. The development will consist of around 80,000 square feet of space.
The library will have 44 parking spots, nearly double the amount needed based on initial projected usage.
The new location will not be the end of library expansion. Within the next five years, McDonald said, the city hopes to open a new flagship library, turning the new library into an extension branch.
©Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. 2008
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19739144&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=6
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