After what library officials hope was the last in a series of delays, the Jefferson County Library Board went out for bids on a proposed library branch in Barnhart last week.
“I’ve spoken with the architect and he said they have already received five requests for blueprints,” Library Director Martha Maxwell said.
The 14,000-square-foot building is expected to cost approximately between $2.6 million and $2.7 million. The branch will be on Metropolitan Boulevard at the entrance to Bayberry Farms Subdivision.
There was a delay in going out for bids two weeks ago, the seventh such delay since the project was announced in April 1995. Since the board announced the project, it has endured holdups for a variety of reasons.
Several re-designs have been done, and for a time other sites were considered. The original completion date was Thanksgiving 1995.
The Library Board announced it would go out for bids the last week of June, but was delayed by a parking lot re-design. The size of the building, first announced at 19,600 square feet, was sliced to 15,000 square feet, then taken as low as 12,000 square feet. Lamping said the final version will be approximately 14,000 square feet.
Library Board Director Pat Lamping said the “turnkey price” of $2.6 million to $2.7 million would include the building, books, computers, furniture and furnishings.
Maxwell said an open pre-bid meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, at the library’s administrative office at 3021 High Ridge Blvd. to answer any questions prospective contractors might have.
Bidding will be closed Sept. 17 and the board may accept a bid as soon as Sept. 19 – its regularly scheduled meeting date, Maxwell said.
“We would hope construction would begin shortly thereafter. It does put us late in the construction year and likely would mean it would not be completed in ’96 but early in 1997,” she said.
Lamping said contractors generally need 60 days to erect a 10,000-square-foot building and 90 days for a 15,000-square-foot building.
The library will feature a 40,000-volume collection, public-use computers and public meeting rooms. Maxwell also has promised an extensive collection of periodicals and large print books.
Maxwell said the frequent delays have caused some concern, but she doesn’t believe the library’s credibility has been damaged.
“We’ve had some unhappy people, but we wanted to use the money wisely and make sure the project was done right,” she said. She said the delays were the result of efforts to keep the project on track fiscally.
