The Dexter Leader
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New Dexter library project should be done this fall
Construction zones
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
Despite a particularly difficult winter, construction of the new Dexter District Library building is still on track.
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The previous estimate was "mid-2008," Library Director Paul McCann previously reported, but he said Monday that the public could expect a grand opening ceremony sometime this fall.
"I think (construction crews) are coming really well," McCann said. "We had a couple of little slowdowns over the course of the winter with heavy snowfall here and there, and the site was exposed for excavations and (laying the) foundations."
He said Ann Arbor-based O'Neal Construction has given no official date.
Ground was broken on the new location on Alpine Street last May, during which officials from the library, the village and even the county talked about the importance of the project to the village's downtown area.
Utility and water infrastructure were put in last summer, and concrete and asphalt were installed early so future parking library parking space could be used for construction vehicles and materials storage, as well as dust control.
The construction has made good progress since then, said McCann, referring to concrete structures and metal pillars on the site right now.
"(The concrete structure) is the central portion of the build (and) the pillars that go up into the air 30 to 40 feet comprises the lower-level first floor and second floor, so that is the core of the building," McCann said.
Once structural engineers get back to McCann and the library board, decisions will be made on how to handle further shallow foundations on the parking side of the building facing Alpine, which will make the building footprint larger than it appears now.
For the most part nothing on the financial end of the project has changed, McCann said, although there were a couple of marks that weren't hit precisely - but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
"We're proceeding with construction work and paying for those bills as we go along, and we haven't run into any conditions that would require additional expense," McCann said.
"Some bills did come below what we expected so we have made some quality (improvements)."
He said some of the improvements were shifting from a rubberized roof in the original blueprints to a standing-seam metal roof, which is more resistant to water, more energy efficient and generally of a higher quality when compared to other roofing materials.
Some overhead utilities will also be run underground at the 1.08-acre site pending a library board action.
Quality improvements are being made due to the nature of the funding that is making the new library possible.
"We have to use the bond money, the bond funds are there and that's what they're there for," McCann said, explaining that the funds are restricted from being used for any other purpose.
Voters, many of whom citing a need for more space, approved a $7.8 million bond for the new library building in 2005.
The new downtown library building will be 25,000 square feet and feature greatly expanded selection, storage, visitor and project space than the current 4,200 square-foot building on Fourth Street.
McCann said not to expect too many more changes.
"There really wasn't much we could do to expand on the initial vision with the space limitations that we had," he said. "We pretty much tried to get everything in there before we went to the voters for approval.
"The greatest need was space to house more materials and more space for people to use the library, study space, seating, tables and computer access."
McCann said there might be some minor rearrangements, but nothing "significant."
Expect a large ceremony and tours this fall when the library district's new home is ready to have a ribbon cut across its doorstep.
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