North Powder Planning New Library in Old Fire Station
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, March 14th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
NORTH POWDER – If Eastern Oregon is good at anything, it’s repurposing old fire stations. The city of North Powder is planning to replace its existing public library with a new space inside the city’s original fire station.
This isn’t the first case of North Powder using the fire station for city facilities as city hall was already relocated to the station in July of 2022. This new project will build off the initial city hall relocation and create both a new multi-purpose meeting room and the new library. According to North Powder City Recorder Beth Wendt, the new library will be built into the South end of the building and include a 24ft extension, bringing the total square footage of the planned library to approximately 40ft by 40ft.
Currently, the project is still in the preliminary stages, with North Powder drafting a floor layout, planning potential Grants and other funding opportunities as well as preparing to put in the internal dividing wall between the city hall and meeting room spaces. Wendt commented on the current status of the project, stating, “it’s very early in the project. We’ve got a plan in mind of what we’d like to do, now we’ve got to figure out what it’s going to cost and how we’re going to finance it.”
North Powder plans to apply for a community block grant in the fall that will hopefully cover the majority of construction costs. If successful, the project will represent a much-needed upgrade for the library. According to Wendt, the old Library and city hall building is showing its age. Issues with lighting, insulation and wall deformation are making the structure undesirable for continued long term use, commenting, “we just need to get out of that old building.”
For those that’d like to support the project directly, the library board is planning an Easter Breakfast fundraiser on April 8. Breakfast will be provided for free with all collected donations going to support the new library. Should the Fall grant cover all construction costs, any fundraised money will help cover internal furnishings and other expenses.
