Renton Weighs In On New Downtown Library Design

By King County Library System (KCLS) Official estimates, between 100 and 150 people attended last night's downtown Renton Library Design public meeting and open house at the Renton Pavilion Events Center.

Muffled music from the bustling farmer's market outside provided the background noise for an introduction by Bill Ptacek, director of KCLS. Behind him, projected on a wall, was a slideshow of images taken from other KCLS libraries.

"I'm really excited to see the level of participation," he said. "I want to assure you that nothing has been done yet," in terms of the design process, encouraging the attendees to provide feedback and sign up for a KCLS upate email list to stay informed.

Dave Miller of Miller Hull Partnership, the architectural team chosen for the project, also spoke briefly about the firm and how the process will work.

"We have not put pencil to paper yet," he said. "We're really here to gather ideas tonight."

Miller also encouraged the audience to visit and comment on each station: Parking, Library Programs, Site Development, Public Art, and Renton Information.

Art, he reminded the audience, can be part of the structure and free-standing.

"The great thing about public facilities is the ability to integrate art," Miller said.

Just before the sit-down segment of the open house came to a close, questions regarding the old library site started to trickle to the surface.

"What happens to the site? Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to that," Ptacek said, adding that the Library System fully supports the City's decision not to use the current library building because it does not have the best configuration for the needs of a new, modern library.

Rhonda Pieczynski of Renton said likes the old site, but also likes the idea of something new.

"I do like change, as long as it is better," she said, adding that she'd like to see a two-story library downtown.

Denise Bamba added her two-cents for the new facility: How about a child-sized sink, instead of a step stool for the adult sinks?

Miller Hull representatives took down pages and pages of notes from the clusters that formed around the different stations.

Renton Librarian Laurie Finlayson recognized a lot of the attendees as current library patrons who were eager to weigh in on the new facility.

"People feel really passionate about the library, and I do, too," she said.

Question about the current library continued to pepper conversations the rest of the evening.

Maaike Post, a project Architect with Miller Hull, directed a handful of people to City staff, who also attended the meeting, to answer questions about what is to become of the current location.

Terry Higashiyama, community services administrator, gathered comments about future uses for the current location next to Liberty Park, and encouraged anyone interested in the future of the building to attend the new . The committee will hold its first meeting on September 28 at 6:30 at Renton City Hall on the 7th floor.

Overall, KCLS Director Ptacek said he felt positive about the meeting.

"We had a good turnout tonight," he said. "We gathered a lot of comments."

Ptacek acknowledged that there were a lot of inquiries about the current library location, but that the meeting was about about the new library, not the old one.

"We obviously didn't want to ignore the questions, but we want to get moving with the design," he said. "The sooner we move forward, the more library we can get for our money."

Kay Johnson, with KCLS facilities development, said KCLS officials will read the comments, then host another meeting, and the design process will move forward from there.

In other area library news, Ptacek noted that the Skyway Library will soon be rebuilt in a new 8,000-square-foot location, "hopefully closer to the main thoroughfare,"; the Fairwood Library is in the design phase for a 2-4,000-square-foot expansion project; KCLS is currently working with the Renton housing Authority on a new 15,000-square-foot Highlands Library; a totally new library will be built in South Renton or East Kent in the Benson area within the next five years; and then there's the new downtown Renton library.

"There's a lot of library here," he said.