Fayetteville Public Library expansion almost complete

FAYETTEVILLE -- The expanded library that voters asked for four years ago is almost ready.

Construction of the 82,500-square-foot expansion to the Fayetteville Public Library is about 85% done, said David Johnson, library executive director. There's drywall, painting, cabling, flooring and a few other pieces left to go, he said.

He's planning for a mid-November opening.

The expansion will nearly double the size of the 88,000-square-foot library. The space will double for youth services, including preschool, grade school and teen areas. Areas for people to collaborate, work, study and learn will also increase. A 700-seat multipurpose room will serve as a midsize venue. Genealogy research will get a dedicated section, and more parking will accommodate more people.

In public input sessions, residents listed those five features as their priorities, and officials included them in a 2013 master plan to guide the expansion.

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Library administrators thought they could do more after taking tours of libraries across the globe, Johnson said. They added an innovation center, including professional-grade studios for audio, video and photography production; as well as labs for robotics, virtual reality and simulators for job training. A teaching kitchen and deli also were added.

A courtyard, larger than the downtown square, will face West Avenue and serve as a gathering space tying into the arts corridor that the city is building as a separate project.

Once the stairway connecting the existing library's third floor to the expansion's second floor is finished, the vision to make two become one will be complete, Johnson said.

"We wanted that feel that this is all one library for this community," he said.

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Voters approved an overall 2.7-mill increase in property taxes in 2016, raising the library's total property tax levy to 3.7 mills. About $26.9 million of the nearly $50 million cost of construction is coming from 1.2 mills of the 2.7-mill increase.

The tax rate will be lowered to 2.5 mills once the construction bonds are paid off in about 20 years, officials said. The remaining 1.5 mills of the increase will remain and will cover the cost of operating the expanded building.

The original plan was to hold a grand opening Oct. 9-10, marking the 16th birthday of the original Blair library. The pandemic derailed that plan, Johnson said.

The project is about a month behind. The pandemic caused supply chain issues, Johnson said. For example, the plant in England that makes the movable furniture for the multipurpose room shut down for two months. The elevator manufacturer that the library selected had factory issues as well, he said. Getting the lights from overseas was delayed.

Library administrators ordered many parts earlier than needed, so the delay could have been worse, Johnson said. Construction crews also were able to compensate for lost time with other aspects of the project.

The library closed in March because of the pandemic. That presented an opportunity to cut the hole in the floor for the staircase connecting to the expansion and to do other interior work at the existing library without disrupting patrons, Johnson said. Most of the work was done by the time the library reopened May 18, he said.