To renovate or to rebuild? Library's status unsettled

Decision must be finalized by May

Friday, Feb. 13, 2009

The county commissioners' meeting room in the Chesapeake Building was filled beyond seating capacity Tuesday evening as different options were presented.

In order to move forward with the project in the upcoming fiscal year, the commissioners must decide by the end of May whether the existing structure should be renovated or an entirely new facility be built nearby.

The question not being discussed was "Do we need more space for the Leonardtown library?" said Kathleen Reif, the library system director. "Where would be the best place to provide the space that we need?"

The Leonardtown library building was originally a National Guard Armory built in 1954 with 16,000 square feet for the public on the first floor. "It was not designed as a library — that's important to remember," Reif said.

The county's six-year plan budgets a 39,000 square-foot addition to the building at $12.7 million, but renovations to the existing building would be problematic because of designation and protections from the Maryland Historic Trust.

The library board of trustees would like an entirely new facility on the governmental center property or on the Hayden Farm, 2,000 feet away across Hollywood Road. The county will soon settle to purchase 172 acres there for $5.3 million for public uses, including new schools.

One of several options presented would build the new library on the playing fields of Miedzinski Park next door, but members of the recreation and parks advisory board did not support that.

Patrick Dugan, chairman of the advisory board, said 35 different baseball, soccer and lacrosse teams use the fields at Miedzinski Park with more than 20,000 users a year.

There is space for new playing fields if need be behind the Patuxent Building, which houses the sheriff's office and the department of land use and growth management, said George Erichsen, director of the county's department of public works and transportation.

"We're really in the early stages," he said, as county government looks to find possible architects for the library project. "We're not moving forward until we hear from you all tonight," he told the audience.

An architect can't get to work until a site is chosen.

Looking further into the future, Pete Himmelheber, member of the Friends of the Library, said the county needs to be mindful not only of current space needs, but those needed 30 years from now. "You're at the end of your tether right here," he said. "So don't lock yourself in a corner."

jbabcock@somdnews.com