Georgetown Library Emerges From Ashes Dapper As Ever

Closed since a rooftop fire and water damage compromised its structural integrity in 2007, like a Phoenix, the classy new Georgetown Library will be reborn this Monday, as it once again opens its doors to the public. Luckily for DCMud, DC Public Libraries offered guided media tours, enabling a sneak peak at the completed restoration. The District Library development staff in partnership with Martinez & Johnson Architects have done a remarkable job of resuscitating the historic library, creating a new and improved building, while maintaining and preserving its storied character.

By excavating and expanding the front porch and the back terrace, as well creatively reinventing the top floor attic space and the basement levels, the development team has significantly expanded the total square footage available for library programming. The once gutted and destroyed interior now features improved lighting, state-of-the-art electronics, restored or impeccably replicated millwork and wood furniture, and much more. There is an expanded dedicated space for teens, including several high-end Apple computers for arts and media-specific exploits. A more modern staircase has been installed through the middle of the building, intended to make the multiple levels the library has to offer more visible and obvious to visitors. A larger and artfully designed Peabody Room has been included, housing a collection of materials on the history of Georgetown. A new bright, and more open children’s room with a special glass-enclosed story time space, as well as an outdoor amphitheater-like, stair-cased grass terrace have been created for children's events. Words don't do the new library justice, go see it for yourself Monday. In the meantime, check out the photos below for a glimpse of the restored library.

Library will not tempt fate, fireplaces only for show

New teen room...not

Back facade

Terraced back lawn

Installation of new roof

Peabody Room

Perfectly crafted millwork

Modern stair case

Library From the Future Set to Land in Southeast

At first look, it's fair to wonder if the ghost of an argyle-sweater-totting Payne Stewart or a checker-clad circus clown helped design the soon-to-be-built Francis Gregory Library at 3660 Alabama Avenue SE. But like the progressively designed Washington Highlands Library, London-based David Adjaye is responsible for the ultramodern architecture that is slowly giving a hip new face to the District's libraries. Construction for the two-story, 22,500 s.f. building is set to get under way within the next two weeks, becoming Adjaye's second attempt to pass a glass box off as public library, after his "Idea Store" in Whitechapel, England put his atypical architectural acumen on the style map.

When designing the Washington Highlands Library, the size of the plot gave architects ample room to play with. Houses in the surrounding neighborhoods and on-site land elevation changes dictated many of the design decisions, but in the case of the Gregory Francis Library, architects were still expected to provide space for the same program requirements, and gifted much less area to perform on. This forced planners to push the building to the edges of the lot, leaving little room for landscaping or parking. Fortunately the site is surrounded on three sides by tree-filled parkland, so Adjaye and his design team were inspired to create a pavilion-like structure, blurring the boundary between outside and in. The glass walls are endowed with a checkerboard pattern, alternating squares of translucent glass and mirror to provide the ability to see in and out, while also reflecting the surrounding nature. This theme of open sight lines extends to the interior, as colored, transparent glass boxes help delineate program elements within, such as the children or teen sections of the library. Other interior boxes take on a wood grain finish to evoke the natural setting just steps outside the library walls.

A large overhanging canopy extends above the main glass structure to further conjure the image and feeling of a pavilion, and provide shade and protection from rain, snow, and ice. The roof is equipped with a louver system, enabling staff to adjust fan blades to allow more or less natural sunlight to penetrate through the ceiling, depending on the preferred temperature and time of year, much like the roof of the Verizon Center. Given the incredible amount of precipitation dumped on the Metro area last winter, engineers were forced to tweak the angle of the roof to make sure accumulated snow and ice loads could slide safely off. Thick, insulated, high performance glass forms the main structure of the building, coated with "low e" to reduce soar gain. Impressively, architects say the limited temperature transfer is comparable to a brick building.

Developers had hoped to incorporate walkways and design elements that more directly connect the library with the elementary school to the west and the park to the east, but the design team received little cooperation from either entity. What little room there is between the library walls and the property lines is landscaped to mirror the checkerboard pattern of the building frontage, hexagon cement pavers alternating with grass planters.

Although there was some complaint that these designs had been stealthily rushed through the ANC and community forum process without adequate public announcement, Zoning eventually approved building plans, and the Southeast is now set to receive a truly unique public building, set to open next summer at a cost of $13.5 million. Appreciated or not, Adjaye's postmodernist architectural vision will not end with the conclusion of the District Library's construction and renovation projects, as his firm is one of several firms involved in bringing another unusual design to life with the building of the Smithsonian's new Museum of African American Culture.

Washington DC real estate development news

Coming Soon(ish): Wheaton Town Square

Spurred on by what they've deemed the "success of Silver Spring redevelopment" and "stagnation" in their own front lawn, Montgomery County's Wheaton Redevelopment Program (WRP) is gearing up to issue a solicitation for offers for a large-scale, mixed-use Town Square project on what is currently a collection of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) bus bays next to the Wheaton Metro.

"We were hoping [to get the solicitation out] this summer and we think that maybe that's still possible. Once we go the WMATA board, it'll much more realistic to put together a schedule," said WRP Director, Rob Klein.

"We'll go to the community before and show them the elements that we're considering. But, by and large, what we're aiming to do is keep the requirements to a minimum, so that we hire a development team based upon their expertise, their experience, their wherewithal and the creativity they’ve shown with past projects. Then, like Silver Spring, [they'll] work with the stakeholders."

Using recommendations made by the International Downtown Association (IDA) as a model, the WRP is aiming to redevelop the County-owned, triangular site (bounded by Georgia Avenue, Viers Mill Road and Reedie Drive), along with other area parking lots and few select private parcels “that make sense for redevelopment,” via a public-private partnership. Though the ultimate mix of uses won’t be settled upon until a developer is selected, the WRP’s tentative vision sees the Town Square as a new arts and retail destination, ala Silver Spring’s revitalized downtown; part and parcel with that will be a new Metro-centric location for the Wheaton Regional Library.

"[The library] relocation was recommended by the [IDA], instead of proceeding with the renovation of the existing library…If the library comes downtown, the recommendation was that an arts venue be part of it. Another thing we’ve thrown out is possibly an auditorium will be part of it. All that would have to be tied into a massive redevelopment solicitation,” said Klein. The idea of shuttering the current library, however, has drawn the ire of many local residents and a campaign is now underway to preclude the possibility of a move.

Nonetheless, area bibliophiles have plenty of time before their books are due once and for all, as there’s no definitive timeline for the project as it now stands - but not for want of effort by WRP. Program staff will appear before the WMATA board this week to seek a “letter of understanding” from the agency with regard to use of the bus bay parcel.

Furthermore, the Town Square’s fate is linked to that of the Wheaton Sector Plan, first drafted in 1990 and now under revision, that goes before the Montgomery County Planning Board later this summer. According to Klein, changes to the updated Plan will “work in tandem” with the goals of his team, as they select sites for redevelopment, deal with issues like the library and court interest from the development community.

“This [project] is a strange hodgepodge and I have not seen one like it before…This is going to be tricky,” he said.

New Shaw Library Seeks Out Stimulus Funds

Three years after it was initially scheduled for completion, work is finally underway on the long awaited Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library. And the fact that excavation is now bristling along at the Rhode Island Avenue, NW site, courtesy of Forrester Construction, isn’t the only piece of good news for Shaw bibliophiles. Officials at DC Public Libraries (DCPL) now tell DCmud that some features originally envisioned for the new library –but that had to be shelved following drastic budget cuts in 2008 – could be restored, courtesy of an application for $282,000 worth of federal stimulus funds that is currently pending with the District Department of the Environment.

"[In] the initial design, we hoped to have a vegetative green roof on the library,” said DCPL spokesman George Williams. “From the conceptual design to putting together how much it would cost to actually build the library, the vegetative green roof was a feature that initially we could not afford. With the availability of stimulus funds, we thought it would be a great opportunity to put the roof back on…It was something that the library wanted and that the community around the library wanted as well.”

Moreover, the community has been wanting any sign of progress on the new 20,000 square foot, LEED-certified, Davis Brody Bond-designed library since its’ predecessor closed in 2004. Though the project formally broke ground this past November, work at the site has only recently geared up – a slow pace, even by DC standards. Nonetheless, DCPL pledges that not only were the delays warranted, but that they’ve also found a means to keep the public updated on progress at the site.

“[We were] making sure that we had all the appropriate permits, approvals and traffic plans taken care of…I don’t believe that our end time changed and we’re looking at scheduling the new library to open in spring 2010,” said Williams.        "We are now doing excavation and foundation work. There are roughly nine milestones [during construction] and we are now on the third…We’re going to put signs up that track what those milestones are as we reach them.”

According to DCPL, the milestones they have to achieve are, in ascending order, steel work, building exterior, interior construction, interior finishes and finally move-in. The agency is putting the building’s penultimate stage of development up for public debate and will hold sessions to “check out the interior finishes and furniture choices” at the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Interim Library on June 15th from 12:00-1:00 pm, June 16th from 5:30-6:30 pm, June 17th 12:00-1:00 pm and June 18 from 5:30-6:30 pm.

Tenley-Janney Loses Apartments, Gains Consensus

In a surprise announcement from Mayor Adrian Fenty at Janney Elementary this afternoon, the ongoing battle between the Tenleytown community and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development over the mixed-use redevelopment of the Tenley-Friendship Library seems to have drawn to a close. The District announced today that it has split with developer LCOR Inc., which had previously been awarded rights to construct the library at the site, along with 174 rental apartments, by the Fenty administration this past July.

The District’s relationship with LCOR, however, went suspiciously unmentioned by Fenty or his staff during the duration of the press conference - an especially conspicuous omission, given that Deputy Mayor Neil Albert had previously reaffirmed his office's commitment to moving forward with the LCOR-led redevelopment as recently as January. Off-the-record sources from inside the District government confirmed that the change of direction at the Janney site had little to do the contentious war of words between the Tenleytown community’s reps on the DC City Council and ODMPED, but that instead, LCOR has been forced to the sidelines due the company’s inability to secure financing in the troubled credit market. For the District’s part, they’re leaving the door to mixed-use development open for the near future.

“There is the possibility that after the library is built, sometime in the future, there may be additional mixed-use on that site,” said Fenty, to a mixed reaction of both applause and boos – an illustration of just how divisive the residential component of the school/library redevelopment had become, even among Janney staff and parents.

With LCOR out of the picture (for now) and no residential units stacked atop of it, the library over the metro station will top out at a simple two stories and measure in at 22,000 square feet, based on designs by the Freelon Group. Forrester Construction has signed on as general contractor and the building will seek a LEED silver certification.

Whether today's deal is a bow to market forces or just public relations peacemaking (or both), ODMPED didn’t end the goodwill there; the schedule for construction of the new library and concurrent renovations to Janney Elementary, it was announced, has been significantly accelerated. Fenty pledged that the new library will be open by the end of 2010, while renovations to Janney, once scheduled to begin in 2014, “could begin as soon as December.” Both Fenty and Allen Y. Lew, Executive Director of Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization, agreed that an architect for the renovation will be selected by June; other details, including whether the school will remain open during construction, had yet to be confirmed. According to Lew, the renovation could take as little as thirteen months.

Round II for West End Library Development

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development is gearing up to issue a Request for Proposals for one the District’s more controversial – Square 37 in the West End.

Currently the site of both the West End Branch Library and the Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Operations Division, the site generated a heap in controversy in 2007, when the City Council passed "emergency legislation" to sell the lot to Eastbanc for redevelopment. In the face of opposition by the likes of Ralph Nader, public space advocates, and neighbors, the Council quickly rescinded the sale and promised their constituents that due time would be given for community input prior to redevelopment, while neighbors have continued to grouse about the underutilized site that functions more as a homeless shelter than a library, sitting incongruously between the Ritz-Carlton and other high-end condominium projects.

And while community angst has gone from overwhelming to negligible in the intervening two years, the City has held up their end of the bargain. In March 2008, numerous local bodies – including the Foggy Bottom/West End ANC 2A, Dupont Circle ANC 2B, the West End Library Friends, the DC Library Renaissance Project, and the Foggy Bottom Association - participated in a public consortium, where guiding principles for development of Square 37 - not to mention the entire West End - were established.

The ambitious “West End wish list” is divided into both macro and micro, if mutually exclusive, categories, including “livelier streets,” “more residential housing,” “public agencies [leasing] our public real estate assets rather than selling to or swapping with private parties,” making “everything...as green as possible,” and “all public facilities should stay public.”

Utopian or not, ODMPED’s pre-RFP statement encourages prospective developers “to address all stakeholder concerns and requirements and demonstrate creative ways to incorporate them into their development plans.” While ODMPED’s outline stops short of specific requirements (i.e., zoning, parking quotas), bidders will be required to incorporate plans for a new library and police facility in their vision for Square 37.

And, perhaps having learned a lesson from more recent community involvement debacles, ODMPED’s statement puts prospective developers on notice that the selected developer, not the Deputy Mayor, will be the one tasked with talking the community down regarding their list of demands for the West End. “If an offeror believes strongly that its development plan should include elements that are not desired by the community,” it reads, “then such offeror must convince the community that the proposed plan better serves the community’s interests.”

ODMPED will be accepting pre-bid queries from both developers and local residents concerning the RFP until Monday, February 23rd at dcbiz@dc.gov.

Community Center-Library Combo Coming to Deanwood

Mayor Fenty was joined by representatives from the DC City Council, DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and DC Public Libraries (DCPL) this week to break ground on the new Deanwood Community Center and Library. After issuing a RFP back in October, the Banneker Ventures-led development team selected Forney Enterprises, Inc. to serve as general contractor on the project. The double duty community center is being designed by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects.

The $33 million project will stand on the same parcel as its dilapidated predecessor, at 49^th and Quarles Streets, NE. The new 63,000 square foot DCC, however, promises to be anything but ramshackle with planned amenities that include an indoor swimming pool, gym, game room, daycare center and fully stocked library – the latter being a product of a collocation agreement reached between DPR and DCPL. “[This]…represents an innovative approach to design that urban areas across the country are employing in order to provide residents a variety of services in restricted public space,” said DPR Director Clark E. Ray. The new LEED-certified DCC plans to open its doors in the summer of 2010.

Tenley Wars III: The Council Strikes Back

Protracted. Excruciating. Unnecessary. These are but a few words used to describe the ongoing battle being waged by local community groups opposed to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) and developer LCOR Inc.'s plans for a new Tenleytown-Friendship Heights Neighborhood Library and residential development. And yet the twisting story further intensifies since DC City Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Kwame Brown have stepped into the fray.

At issue is the construction of a new Tenley Library to replace its predecessor (closed 4 years ago), updates and additions to the over-enrolled and threadbare Janney Elementary school, and, in return for these improvements, permission for the developer to build a residential complex on the site. A win-win scenario about which no one seems happy. The newest chapter involves LCOR's latest proposal to extend the residential component onto the school's green space (an ingredient mysteriously pushed by the Deputy Mayor and seemingly favorable to no one), a move that spurred Janney's School Improvement Team (SIT) to revoke its conditional support of the three-tiered agreement. Remaining undecided is the pace of renovations to the school, which the District wasn't planning to get to until 2013 despite immediate needs, hence the SIT favoring a quicker fix by the developer.

With the school's support withdrawn in the already contentious battle, Councilmembers Cheh and Brown penned a letter to Mayor Fenty expressing their wish to see the project’s library component move forward, while insisting that LCOR’s residential development be sent back to the drawing board.

“We write to ask that you permit the Tenley Library to build now and separate it from any possible mixed-use, or public/private, development on the site,” read the statement's first paragraph. “As for the current LCOR proposal, we believe that it is fatally flawed,” begins another. Cheh and Brown propose a compromise that would allow the library to be constructed with structural supports in place to accommodate any future development above. Meanwhile, the residential component would be put on hold until a mutually agreeable design is produced. In conclusion, the letter asked for a response to their concerns by Friday, November, 7^th.

The Letter hinges on LCOR's plans for the residential component, initially planned to sit on top of the library, then moved (by mysterious edict of a revised RFP) off the library and in place of the neighboring Janney soccer field. Now, two differing LCOR site plans (dated November 4th) put the apartments back on the library once again, but still encroaching on Janney green space. That in turn caused SIT to withdraw their support, as both proposals take up some of the green space now used by Janney, but add it back in behind the school, in place of the surface parking lot. According to Kirk Rankin of the Janney SIT, the SIT is opposed to any plan that would require Janney to cede any of its green space for the development.

Still with us? Good, because further complicating matters is the timing, and everyone agrees the quicker the better. And yet The Letter contemplates a two-year construction of the library, completion of which would be followed by a second construction project on the same small site, a process that may yield an architecturally challenged, ever-dusty construction site.

Cheh was not amused by the Deputy Mayor's response, or lack thereof, to The Letter. “Immediately after [receiving our letter], the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued a statement saying they were going ahead with it. No one has ever explained to me, ‘With what are they going ahead?’” said Councilwoman Cheh, referring to the widespread confusion resulting from the repeated relocation of the residential units.

While ODMPED would not respond to DCMud's inquiries regarding the matter, an LCOR representative did comment on the council's qualms and the impact that residential development will have on the school zone. “We’re going ahead with it and [ODMPED] is going ahead, too,” said Timothy D. Smith, Senior Vice President of LCOR. “The two [library and residential] are combined. It’s one building with a very prominent location along the street that reads ‘Library’ when you’re riding along Wisconsin Avenue…it’s probably the best way to use the land, rather than build separate apartment buildings.”

"We've been working on this steadily and people make comments in the meantime," he continued. "We were working down Mary Cheh's list of things that she wants to see accomplished when the letter was written...We have been meeting with citizens groups and modifying our plan. We do hope to gain support back from Mary."

Councilwoman Cheh, however, was not quite as optimistic with respect to the library’s future: “If they surplus property, that requires council approval. If the ward councilmember doesn’t approve of the action, I doubt very much that my colleagues would approve of it over my opposition.”

Meanwhile, a standalone library has been funded and approved and could, with Council okay, start construction relatively soon. We'll be waiting to see who blinks. Stay tuned for Episode IV: Revenge of the SIT.

No Late Fees for DC's New Public Libraries

Over the course of the next year, District of Columbia Public Libraries (DCPL) will be bringing a slew of projects – including new up-to-date facilities and renovations – to neighborhoods throughout the city. Their intent? To improve conditions in low-income areas, bring the concept of the library into the 21^st century and, by extension, those that they serve along with it.

First on the block is the Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library at 115 Atlantic Street SW. The present facility will be razed next year to make way for a new structure that will feature a public meeting room, study areas, a computer lab, and separate reading areas for children, teens and adults. Budgeted between $14 and $16 million, the 20,000 square foot library is expected to commence construction in the fourth quarter of 2009. International architects Adjaye Associates are designing the new facility with Wiencek and Associates serving in an associate role. In a surprising twist for a library, the city will also be aiming for a LEED silver certification. An interim library will be installed to serve the community during construction.

The Washington Highlands project has been paired up with the construction of a new Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library. In essence, the two projects could be viewed as “twins” - both projects share the same architect, budget, LEED certification and plan to go to ground in the fourth quarter of 2009. Located at 3660 Alabama Avenue SE, the library will also include the requisite meeting rooms, children's areas, administrative offices and computer labs.

And while none of the new amenities outlined above may seem vastly different from those that preceded them, DCPL’s Public Information Officer, George Williams told DCMud exactly how and why these are structures are intended to serve their specific locales:

The Washington Highlands and Francis A. Gregory neighborhood libraries were chosen to continue the Library’s efforts to improve facilities east of the Anacostia River. The condition of the existing buildings limited their ability to provide 21^st Century state-of-the-art library service. For example, the need for dedicated space for things like card catalogs and computer labs is gone due to advances in technology improving the way we access information. The new buildings will have flexible space which allows for the Library to implement a variety of activities throughout the building without being limited by space dedicated for a specific purpose. As library use changes in the future, the new buildings will allow the Library to meet the needs of the community.

Williams also pledged that the local community “will play an integral role” in development of the new libraries. The architects for both projects were selected by a committee comprised of select DCPL staff, an independent architect, and community members handpicked by Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry and Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander. Additionally, the services and programs to be offered by both facilities have been outlined using feedback from a series of “Hopes and Dreams” community meetings that occurred earlier this year. Local ANC boards have also been encouraged to submit their thoughts on the matter. The architects behind the projects plan to hold public meetings regarding plans for the libraries as soon as next month.

Both the Washington Highlands and Francis A. Gregory projects are currently in the early design stages and no renderings are available at this time.

Meanwhile, Northwest is also getting two newly-updated libraries – one in Mount Pleasant, the other in Petworth.

With the first phase of renovations complete, the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library at 1600 Lamont Street NW will soon undergo significant interior renovations. Utilizing designs by the CORE Group and HMA2 Architects, the new facility will retain many of the library’s historic flourishes, while maximizing the amount of space available – for a total of 21,288 total square feet. Beyond sheer size, new improvements will include a new “common, accessible entrance for all residents,” an enhanced children’s section and updated, state-of-the-art infrastructure. The renovations are expected to be completed next year.

The Petworth Library at 4200 Kansas Avenue NW is also scheduled to receive an upgrade, beginning in January 2009. The plans on hand call for mostly superficial renovations – a facelift for the exterior, window and door restoration, roof repairs and new masonry. DCPL is currently accepting bids from contractors interested in the project, which are due no later than November 17^th.

These four new additions join the previously announced Watha T. Daniel/Shaw, Anacostia, Benning and Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library (more on that coming very soon) projects, which are currently at various stages of development.

UPDATE: DCPL will be holding a "community gathering" on December 16th to showcase designs for both the Highlands and Gregory projects. Architect David Adjaye will be in attendance. A location and time are forthcoming.

Georgetown Neighborhood Library Rising from the Ashes

The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) this morning held a pre-BID conference in the gutted interior of the Georgetown Neighborhood Library (GNL), which suffered severe fire damage in April of 2007. Full funding for the project has already been allotted by the DC government, but designs for proposed renovations and additions by architects Martinez & Johnson are still months away from completion.

In the meantime, DCPL and the construction manager for the project, Smoot Construction, are now offering contractors three different BID "packages" that can get underway in the coming weeks: hazardous material removal, historic salvage and protection, and supply of site facilities. Following final approval of the architectural designs, Smoot projects that 14-25 more packages will be advertised to facilitate a spring 2010 reopening. Library officials went on to assure the construction representatives in attendance that any current litigation pending against the DCPL will in no way affect the timetable or funds assigned to the project.

Proposed modifications to the original 1930s building include an addition to the library’s first floor, new stairways, elevators and internal systems, demolition of several existing walls, and the complete refurbishment of fire-damaged library accoutrements. Historic wood fixtures on site will be removed and restored off-site, while the library’s basement will also be reconfigured into a more user-friendly space. Luckily, the building’s facade suffered only minimal damage - the library’s concrete and steel skeleton and masonry walls rendered it essentially fireproof – and will not need significant restoration.

The initial cause of the 2007 fire was chalked up to faulty wiring. Capitol Hill's Eastern Market, which notoriously also caught fire on the very same day as the GNL, received $2 million to rebuild from the DC government two weeks ago.

Georgetown real estate news 

Update: Watha T. Daniel / Shaw Library

A quick update for everyone out there in Mudland that's been following the ongoing redesign of the new Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library. The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) has posted new Davis Brody Bond renderings (at right) and additional information about the project on their website. The brief statement adds a few new wrinkles to the library's plans, including the fact that they are aiming for a LEED silver certification. It also posits that groundbreaking is still planned for this fall with a 2010 completion date.

The Slow, Sad Waltz of the New Shaw Library

The new Waltha T. Daniels-Shaw Library continues to sputter through redesign after redesign in attempts to cut costs while remaining on schedule. After scrapping their first plans and start date (due to interference with a nearby Metro line and an overabundance of ground water), citizens were not pleased when their new and improved branch did not open in 2006. A full two years later, local blogs and librarians alike went ballistic this July when the District unveiled its' second round of tweaked concept art that looked mysteriously like...the old Waltha T. Daniels-Shaw Library. You know, the concrete box that they had paid to demolish.

Given that that same month, Mayor Fenty timidly announced the District was considering keeping all libraries closed on Friday through Sunday due to budgetary constraints, most were ready to assume that any plans for a new Shaw library were going to come to dead stop or, at the very least, be drastically curtailed. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, however, when the mayor did a 180 and announced on August 4th that the city had re-appropriated $2 million in order to keep the city’s libraries up-and-running and (gasp) open seven days a week. Of course, that didn’t stop city spokespeople from opining about “rising material and transportation costs” in the same breath as “Shaw” and “library.”

On August 16th, residents led by the Shaw Library Study Group came together to voice their disapproval with the two year delay at a “Speak Out and Read In” in front of a neighborhood Giant supermarket. Now comes word that yet another set of designs and schematics (and compromises?) will be unveiled on Thursday, September 4th at the interim library currently serving Shaw - the fourth such “community design meeting” to take place since last year.

The DC public library homepage claims that the constant back and forth on the design and funding issues has delayed their current timetable by only 6 to 8 weeks and that construction is still planned to begin this coming fall with a planned completion date somewhere in early 2010. Here’s to hoping that this doesn’t become yet another neglected Ward 2 landmark (we're looking at you, Howard Theater and Wonder Bread factory) that fails to get the treatment it deserves.

Plans for West End Library Renovations

The District will soon write the next chapter of its library tales when it issues a solicitation for developers for Square 37, home of the West End Branch of the DC Public Library, sometime this fall. Though the West End's story does not have a plot as dramatic as that of the Tenley Library, efforts to redevelop the site on the corner of 24th and L Streets, NW have still faced traditional District-neighbor conflicts. A year ago, the DC Council passed "emergency legislation" to sell the site to EastBanc Inc., only to rescind it at the opposition of the community. Foggy Bottom, West End, and Dupont Circle ANCs, community groups, residents, and business representatives have since taken the reigns and held vision sessions, distributed surveys, and conducted studies of who uses the library, how the catalogue can be improved, and what amenities should be included in the branch's redevelopment. West End Library Friends Stakeholders Committee released their "Guidelines for a New or Fully Renovated Branch Library" mid July. In it, the group calls for a coffee shop with an outside entrance, attractive, well-landscaped grounds and accessible inviting sidewalk space and entrances, office space for local ANCs and community organizations, and an architectural team that is familiar with library design. Robin Diener, director of the DC Library Renaissance Project, an organization founded by Ralph Nader to improve the DC Public Library system, said the report is consistent with what her organization wants to accomplish on the site. She also stressed that the District should do a better job of including the community in the planning process. "We think that planning should be dealt with early on by the community and that we should see a more comprehensive planning process. We had our own vision session that was shorter than the Friends of the Library, but still very comprehensive, and then the Office of planning had a meeting in which they read back to us what we had put forward. It was a standard question and answer and they were very generous in answering our questions, but it wasn't much of a program. 

The second meeting that they hosted was more of the same. There will be two more in September but my impression from what happened is that they will be more of what was already done," she said. Diener said that under current procedures it seems that the District cares more about which developer is interested in the site, than what the community would like to see. "DC is missing a critical piece of planning that should happen before there are discussions with developers. In DC, what we do is we talk to developers and see who might be interested in the project and then talk to the community, it should be driven the exact opposite way. Now it seems like they (the City) have got an idea, and they're trying to put an idea out there in a way that people can be respond, but that plans have already been determined," she said. Many of the redevelopment suggestions for the parcel at the corner of 24th and L Streets, NW are related to the large homeless population that congregates in the library. 

A survey issued to 348 self-selected respondents by the Friends of the Library showed that the homeless population's use of the library is "a deterrent to greater use by other patrons." The report recommends fewer reading tables to deter homeless people from congregating, removing parking meters in front of the building so that bags can not be tied to them, limiting the number of bags each person can bring to the library, and adding stand-up computer-only tables. In addition to interior and exterior design guidelines, the report calls for a revamped collection that better reflects the demographics of the users. "Those who do use the library are older, wealthier, better educated, and less racially diverse than the general population of the District; and, therefore, the collection, programs, and services for this particular branch, like all branches, should be tailored to the population it serves." EastBanc developed the Georgetown and West End Ritz-Carltons.

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