Philomath Community Library will be seeking feedback from the public about potential expansion options during an open house from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Robertson Sherwood Architects, the contractor secured to head up the feasibility study, plans to share two conceptual designs for a future expansion.
“We are excited to hear the community’s initial feedback on these designs — what they like, what they don’t like, what’s missing and what feels like the highest priority areas,” said Ashlee Chavez, Corvallis-Benton County Public Library director.
The open house will be organized as a drop-in event, so folks interested can visit anytime between over the two-hour period to see the design options, chat with the architects and library staff, and share feedback directly or via comment cards.
“After the event is over, we will have the design options still up for review and comment at the library for several weeks, along with an online survey,” Chavez said.
The process to take a look at expanding the library got started earlier this year when the city of Philomath requested proposals from qualified architects to undertake a feasibility study.
“While the current library is very functional and well-loved by the community, it was also built in 1995 when the city of Philomath’s population was only around 3,000 people,” Chavez said. “Considering the population has almost doubled in size since the construction of the library, and will likely to continue to see steady growth, planning for the future of the library is very needed.”
Chavez said funding sources have not yet been identified for the project but those involved felt that the next logical step “was to understand the needs of the community and the library, along with how feasible an expansion might be and what those associated costs might be.”
Chavez added that because of the library’s proximity to a flood plain, the first steps of the project were to gain a better understanding of what might be in the realm of possibility.
The library and architects plan to continue collecting community feedback throughout October.
“Utilizing that input, Robertson Sherwood will start to work on a finalized conceptual design and work towards cost estimates,” Chavez said. “After that, we’d have to embark on fundraising and seeking out other sources of revenue in cooperation with the city of Philomath.”