Appleton Public Library: Library Building Project Update For August 2021

Press release from the Appleton Public Library:

August 17, 2021

In March the Appleton Public Library Board of Trustees and City of Appleton Common Council selected Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) for design and engineering services for the Appleton Public Library at its current location.

City staff continue to work with SOM on the library project. The following progress has been made in the past month:

1. Concept Design

The architects continue to work through conceptual design based on building needs and feedback. As announced in July, this will be a renovation and expansion of the existing facility. The architects are working to ensure flexibility in their design to provide spaces that can serve multiple uses throughout the day to maximize efficiency of the building.

The architects were on site at the library Wednesday, August 11 and did a workshop with staff focusing on the needs in the children’s and teen areas. Additional workshops focusing on other areas of the library are being planned.

Concepts were presented to the Appleton Public Library Board of Trustees Tuesday, August 17. Concept images can be viewed at the bottom of this post.

2. Community Input

3. Additional Site Assessment Updates

Work and analysis continues on subsurface environmental investigations as well as additional inspections of the existing facility for lead and asbestos. This will help us determine the existing soil conditions and if any contamination exists from previous structures and activities.

4. Contract for Construction Manager at Risk Services

A recommendation for a construction manager (CM) will be brought to the City Council Finance Committee on Monday, August 23. The CM will serve as an advisory in both the pre and post construction phases in addition to serving as the general contractor during construction. A CM provides significant value by joining the team in the early process of design to suggest efficiencies in constructability, material choices, developing schedules, etc. to reduce overall cost and improve quality.

5. Interim Library Needs

Director Gazza has begun working with city departments and library staff to identify possible locations for the library to function during the period of construction.

This press release was produced by the Appleton Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.