North Powder unveils plans for its brand-new public library
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, October 9th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
NORTH POWDER – For many communities, libraries are more than just convenient storage places for books on demand. The ubiquitous buildings can serve as convenient community hubs, providing public spaces, hosting events, and even offering increasingly unique services. In the coming year, residents of North Powder can look forward to a new, modern library in place of their historic but aging structure.
For those who may have missed it, the City of North Powder hosted an open house on Thursday, October 3, to present the new design to the public. The new library will be approximately 2,000 square feet and be built as an extension to the North Powder City Hall building. Design-wise, the extension will be partially flush with the existing building to help with snow load, with a partial protrusion at the library’s entrance, as seen in the design images. (Floor plan below):
Another planned element of the design includes moving the parking lot away from the structure and constructing a pedestrian plaza in front of the building. The new parking lot will feature a 15-car capacity. Other features include a double door vestibule entrance to break up cold air flow and hardy native plants in the green spaces/plaza area to lower maintenance requirements.
Indoors, the library will also feature 4 dedicated computer workstations, laptops and tablets for checkout, and two TVs, one for general community usage and another for use in the planned children’s area. For clarification, the new library and the city hall building will have a single door connecting them internally.
Overall costs for the project are estimated at around $1.2 million dollars, being funded by a community development block grant. Keep in mind, the estimate includes future construction in addition to surveying, architecture and engineering work, and environmental work. The final overall cost may differ depending on construction. If under budget, remaining funds may be allocated to further wish-list items.
Funding for the new library was initially announced in late December 2023, though the origins go back further. According to library board director Mike Schoeningh, former North Powder council member Logan McCrae, along with current Mayor John Frieboes, had been advocates for a new library for some time.
The two, along with other city employees such as Recorder Beth Wendt, worked to bring on Nick Ducote as the project’s grant writer. Prior to Nick’s involvement, some volunteer fundraisers had taken place over the years (including selling watermelons) though only raised around $4,000 dollars. The city had also attempted previously to apply for library grants, though did so via multiple, smaller grants. Ducote consolidated the city’s efforts into the single major grant North Powder would eventually receive. As explained by Ducote himself:
“I told them they would be eligible to build a library with the block grant funds that they had just used for the sewer plant, just from a different category of funding. So, we got a grant to pay for me to write the grant and to pay Pinnacle to do the feasibility study and we rolled that right into the grant. We were successful the first time out of the gate.”
Pinnacle Architecture was then brought on to design the new library, integrating feedback from both the library board and city council. Brandon Lanius, the new library’s architect (seen speaking to attendees in the image below), commented on the project:
“I think that we’ve worked really hard to create something that the community will be proud of and that they will hopefully be able to use for years to come and that is adaptable for their needs as they grow.”
Overall, reception during the open house was largely positive, with community members excited for the new library. Schoeningh further expressed enthusiasm for the library acting as a community, remarking:
“We have the Grange down the street and that was a community hub, but I kind of see this is becoming a little bit more available. The Grange is a private thing. This is a city thing, so we’ll be able to have different opportunities here.”
Currently, the city is working on additional documentation and planning before putting out a public construction bid. Tentatively, construction is expected to start in early 2025, with the new library open by mid-December 2025. No decision has officially been reached on what to do with the old library once the new one is completed.
