|
|
|
|
Dexter District Library Director Paul McCann points out the new HVAC system being installed at the new library.
|
|
While walking through the new Dexter District Library building on Alpine Street O'Neal Construction Project Manager Matt Ratzow sees installed windows, erected walls and functioning room utilities.
In his orange hard hat, he can see the next step and the step after that from where the project currently is now, just a half summer and a half autumn away from completion.
"You have to build from the ground up - the bottom first - and get this part enclosed," he said during a Tuesday morning tour of the facility that started in the lower level of the building.
The lower level is where a ground level view of the park and the Main Street Bridge over Mill Creek will be visible by people using the main room, which will have a podium for public speakers and seating for audiences.
Right now the room is just a concrete slab with openings facing the creek and the beginnings of the stage, but Ratzow sees the white lines of the blueprints filling in around him.
Library Director Paul McCann, dressed in what can only be referred to as a comprise between the standards of office attire and outdoor wear, with a white hard hat that has his first name on the front in blue lettering, sees something different.
"We'll hold public speaking events here and it'll be a great place for community events," he said gesturing towards a podium that will exist in his imagination until late October at the earliest.
Stepping outside of the lower level onto unsure footing where building materials and dirt are piled next to a temporary fence on common ground with the park behind the Dexter Area Fire station on Main Street, you can see what is going on from the outside.
"We need to be the building completely enclosed," Ratzow said. "Once we get the exterior skin on, we can complete more interior construction."
The next steps on that level are windows and drywall, according to Ratzow.
Re-entering the building, the men stepped into a boiler room, which already contains the system that will heat and cool the build. The only loose ends are converting a large hole in the wall near the unit, which was used as a sort of loading dock to bring the equipment into the building, into the system's ventilation shaft.
"This will be sealed off," McCann said.
From there it's only a matter of finalizing installation and finishing the duct work into the building - another component of interior construction, along with the walls, flooring, ceilings and other components of a modern comfortable room.
Going from the bottom to the top of the building, McCann takes over most of the narration of the tour, indicating that collections for children and young adults will be on the first floor, which is one ground level with Alpine Street and the parking lot. That is where a study and computer room will be, as well as some offices.
The second or top floor will house the adult collections and reference materials, as well as reading areas more suited to the audiences that those collections will be aimed at.
"The wooden roof will be visible from inside the finished building," Ratzow said about one of the building's most stylized features.
"It's a finished wooden roof."
As you go higher in the building, the view reveals the train tracks and tree lines along Mill Creek, and an elevated view of the park.
There is also a small porch-like area on the south-facing corner of the building near Alpine, where some fresh air can be enjoyed.
One of McCann's regrets is that out door reading areas on the north and east sides of the building, near the administrative offices, will not happen.
"The cost to make them outdoor accessible was too much," McCann said.
Those spaces will be reserved for expansion.
The overall layout of the building has not changed significantly from what was proposed in the bond issue that paid for the library, he said.
Space is a big concern for McCann and Ratzow is aware of his needs and the limitations on the site.
"We're building close to the property line - probably 10 feet off of it," he said. "The wooden roof adds additional coding issues, since it's made of wood and it's a fire issue," McCann said. "You have to have a certain distance from other properties."
††Standing amidst the final section of the upper floor indicated by McCann to host the collection and by what will be a fireplace, McCann talked further about what he expects going into the new building.
"We're going to have to manage the collection very carefully," he said. "There isn't a whole lot of room for expansion, and if we did that would have to be another bond issue.
"We will have to keep track of the well read material and pay attention to what people use in the library.
"About 25 years down the road we are going to have to manage the collection to a very fine degree."
That's just one of the challenges that goes with being a downtown location, and that's what the community supporting the bond said they wanted, according to McCann.
The lot is tight too, with just 50 parking spaces, aside from street side parking on Alpine alone the Farmer's Market area.
"I feel we did well with the space that we have and we hope the community feels the same way," Ratzow said.
His company has built about 6 libraries he says, although this is the first he has been project manager on. He says he feels confident and hopes the company's lucky touch will grace the Dexter Area Library with a Best Small Library in America award from the Library Journal.
The North Branch Ann Arbor Library and Chelsea's McKune Library have both earned that honor over the past decade.
O'Neal Construction built both of those buildings.
"I think it's a testament to the area's willingness to support education and endeavors like this one," McCann said. "Some libraries are struggling to stay open 2 or 3 days a week."
Neither man knocked on wood after discussing the success that will come in the years following this year's fall grand opening, but they walked on plenty on their way out after the tour.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
TOP JOBS
