On Jan. 17, the City Council is expected to award a $600,000 contract to Oakhurst Construction of Seminole for the renovation of the Clearwater Beach Recreation Center, including the addition of 1,200 square feet of library space.
If everything goes as planned, the library will open in late April and the entire project will be finished by August.
“We’re going to have to phase it in,” Kevin Dunbar, the city’s director of parks and recreation, told the City Council at its Jan. 14 work session. “Our number one priority is to get the library in. The other things in the rec center will be secondary.”
Since the municipal auditorium building that housed it was torn down several years ago, the beach library has been in search of a permanent home. Suggestions have ranged from combining it with a firehouse to closing it. Until recently, it has occupied rented quarters in Pelican Walk.
“The Beach Library has moved out of Pelican Walk and is currently operating out of a temporary trailer in the parking lot west of the recreation center,” a staff memo to the council explained. “This is a priority project and staff is attempting to have the renovations completed as soon as possible in order to move the library from its temporary location to the recreation center no later than May 2008.”
The project was put out for bids and Oakhurst Construction was the lowest of the five qualified bidders. In addition to the construction of the new library area, whole sections of the existing structure will be gutted and refurbished, the fitness room will be upgraded and the kitchen and storage areas will be expanded.
“Twelve hundred square feet of library space will be added but the entire building, which is about 9,000 square feet, is going through various stages of renovation,” Dunbar said.
An additional $64,000 is expected to be allocated to upgrade the glazing in all the windows to bring them up to code and flood-proof them, and add additional windows to the multi-purpose room to take advantage of its waterfront views. Two features that should have been included in the original bid, but weren’t, were millwork for a front counter area in the library, and a separate air conditioning system for the library to protect its books from mildew.
Councilman George Cretekos said that he was told in October that a street sign, directing people to the combined recreation and library, would be ready in five weeks, but it’s still not up. Dunbar promised to look into the matter.
Mayor Frank Hibbard said that he hopes that library patrons will discover the beauty of the refurbished recreation center and rent it for weddings or other events.
“It’s about serving the beach and continuing to have a library out there,” said Hibbard.
Source : http://www.tbnweekly.com/
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