Summary of the second public meeting for a new library on Feb. 12th, from Friends of The South End Library (FOSEL) president Yvette Jarreau:
The location is in the flood plain and therefore requires a building that is 3 ft above the current floor level.
While there were slides on the neighborhood characteristics, we did not discuss planning for future branch library needs/size, such as population increase/decrease or demographic changes.
The program items do not include a café or cooking area. They do include space for the local history collection. Many of the ideas from the first community meeting were included in the feedback and the proposed building program.
Three test fits were presented -— these are not designs but rather concepts for accommodating the square footage that the library program, as presented, requires. All three involved increasing the square footage to over 15,000.
Only one allows for our park to remain with minimal change to the tree canopy. This was the 2-story new construction option.
A third floor was not being considered by BPL, primarily due to staff constraints for monitoring activity in the space and concern about increased costs.
The height requirement of the South End Landmark Commission is a minimum of 30 ft and can be higher. Most of the buildings surrounding the current building are higher.
An elevator would appear to be required in any of the options.
Now is the time for input as BPL and Utile hope to have a decision on the key direction for the new building by the next community meeting in the March/April time frame (date still to be determined).
Request
In the presentation, Utile stated "It is important to test many different options during the feasibility study phase as a form of due diligence." Given this statement I would like to request a test fit for 3 stories to accomplish the following:
Eliminate the using 8 ft from the alley which is already a tight space for servicing the library and residents using the alley.
Add a program element allowing for a kitchen/café multi-use space; this aligns with our community history of events and celebrations with food.
Build the structure so that it can be increased upward beyond 3 stories, since we want this building to serve us into a 50+ year future.
Slides from this meeting are available here: www.bpl.org/south-end-project, as well as a form to express your own thoughts on the new library. Note that the BPL and Utile will choose one of the three design strategies by the time of that 3rd meeting; if you agree with FOSEL about the desirability of a 3rd floor, now is the time to let them know.
Ongoing, interim programming
Thursday, March 07, 11:30am—12:30pm, USES 48 Rutland St: English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Conversation Group
Thursdays 10:30am, USES 48 Rutland St: Story time with Librarian Margaret
Mondays & Wednesdays, 10am pickup at the South End Library: Age Strong Shuttle Service to the Parker Hill branch of the BPL
Tue March 12th, 2pm, FOMU 655 Tremont St: The Scoop: Book Club— The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi.
Visit www.bpl.org for a list of all events and further details.