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New Main Library Location?


richyb83

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I think I confused things. The above rendered elevation of the new Main Library is located at Independence Park in Mid-city, bound by Goodwood Blvd, Independence Blvd, E Airport Dr and Lobdell. The bidding documents have been approved and will be sent out for public bidding by contractors soon. As the story states, construction should begin this summer.

Trahan's rendering of the proposed downtown library or "River Center Branch" is located downtown at the corner of St. Louis and North Blvd. The above article states that the 3 shortlisted architects will be decided on tomorrow (Thursday) and that those firms will give oral presentations on May 19th.

Trahan was actually only hired to do a feasibility study for the library board/metro council of how much it would cost to either renovate, make additions to, or completely rebuild the current River Center Branch. The metro council ended up deciding to completely rebuild the library for 19 million, because that's what Trahan said it would cost. What got everyone excited was that he released actual renderings of what a new library could look like. The reality is that he isn't even selected as the architect to design this library. And many people also don't think that the proposed design he created could be built for 19 million.

The same thing happened with Ground Zero in NY. Daniel Libeskind was hired to do master planning of the site but also released renderings of the buildings themselves even though he was not selected as the architect to design those buildings. Confused the entire public by doing this, especially since a lot of people were intrigued with his designs.

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  • 5 months later...

Groundbreaking for new library set

A new chapter: A groundbreaking ceremony for the $35.4 million Goodwood Main Library will be held behind the site of the current Main Library, 7711 Goodwood Blvd., on Wednesday Oct. 19th at 2 p.m. Mayor Kip Holden, Library Director David Farrar, Councilwoman Alison Gary and members of the Library Board of Control will be on hand; a reception will follow. The new Main Library will total 126,000 square feet; it is designed by the Library Design Collaborative, and the general contractor is Milton J. Womack. It will be situated on land in Independence Park, almost directly behind the current Main Library location. The building is designed to allow seamless integration with Independence Park and will have a shared plaza with BREC.

Businessreport.com

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Work to begin on new library

Facility to be twice as large as current building

After years of public debate and several design changes, construction of a new main library for East Baton Rouge Parish at Independence Park is about to get under way.

A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled Wednesday to mark the formal start of the $35.4 million project, which will see the library on Goodwood Boulevard replaced by a facility nearly twice as large to the north of its location.

http://theadvocate.c...gin-on-new.html

*Site plan & other pics shown in article :shades:

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Actually the plaza is directly to the right or east of the library. The plaza is roughly 90'x90'. From what I have learned, the entire entry sequence is hinged on the plaza. If you look at the site plan you can see that the parking leads you directly to the plaza. The plaza is bound by parking to the south, library to the west, a 300 seat (i think) meeting room to the north and a cyber cafe to the east. The plaza is designed to be an outdoor community gathering space. Outside the north meeting building will be a large outdoor screen for project images, movies, ect. There are also water features designed in and around the plaza, which is also multi-tiered. All in all, i'm pretty excited about this project. Especially because I live in Mid-City!

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Oh, I thought you were talking about the entrance plaza. :thumbsup:

On the left side of the library is the service yard for both the existing theater and library. All deliveries, trash, recycling, loading bays, etc will be located there. It's always a challenge to design a service yard when there is no "back" of a building.

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  • 1 year later...

Its big in person, if it would have been the originally planned size it would of been huge! I think they should of tried to save up to have built it the original size though because I can imagine it'll seem small one day like the current main library. I know a lot of people wanted the main library to be downtown(including myself) but the more I think about it its probably better it stayed where its at because its always crowded.

Also, like Cajun said, I they could of had a more interesting design, but maybe it'll look better once built??

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  • 3 weeks later...

New Goodwood Library taking shape

The new $35.4 million Goodwood Main Library is taking shape behind the facility it's replacing at a cost of $280 per square foot, says Mary Stein, assistant director of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library System. "But again, that will change a bit as change orders get incorporated into the project," Stein adds. Only one change order has been approved for the project thus far, she says, and no more that are anticipated could change the library's total cost. On Oct. 18, the new three-story Main Library—which at 126,000 square feet is more than double the existing library's size—was 57% complete. Summer downpours delayed laying the concrete foundation in the months of June and July, Stein says, and put building construction about 30 days behind schedule. She adds that a new completion date is now set for Aug. 3, 2013, but that is subject to change due to any further unforeseen weather events. Also, there will be a 90-day interim period for installing furniture, computers, books and emptying the old Main Library building, which will be cleared away—perhaps by wrecking ball, but not explosion or implosion—for a new parking lot. —Adam Pearson Read full story here.

http://www.businessreport.com/section/businessreport0113

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  • 1 month later...
AR-121229907.jpg
Progress continues on the $35.4 million Goodwood Main Library, located behind the branch it's replacing at 7711 Goodwood Blvd. At 126,000 square feet, it's more than double the existing library's size, and is scheduled for completion in August. The Library Design Collaborative is handling the design, and the general contractor is Milton J. Womack.



Read more from Business Report here: http://www.businessreport.com/section/businessreport0113#ixzz2GDupbvYe

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Maybe the books would have faded if the windows were bigger, but the windows seem kind of smallish. Maybe it'll look better when it's finished.

This is the south facade of the building.  The north facade is pretty much nothing but 3 stories of glass.... Full disclosure, my friends are working on this project.  There are also green roofs, some available to the public, also facing north.

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Times are changing, and the physical space needs of a library will change as well. What we are building today will probably be obsolete within 10 years.

I do agree....bricks and mortar turning into a less appropriate investment for libraries with each passing day.

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Oh ok. Cause I was afraid it was going to look drabbish like the old one. Yeah you're right, like I had said I think they should of made it like 1/3+ computer space, and then maybe have a space with tablets/e-readers attached to the tables with those security cords.

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