New library in Davis is pushed back

FARMINGTON — The much-needed replacement to the Headquarters Library in Farmington is going to have to wait about six months.

Plans originally called for Davis County to break ground on a new library by fall 2009, but the county's desire to master plan its campus in county seat Farmington means construction likely won't start until spring 2010.

Because library officials want to keep the Headquarters near the rest of the main county buildings, it's preferable to wait until a comprehensive plan is in place, said Davis County Library director Chris Sanford at a recent library board meeting.

Delaying construction until 2010 will allow the county's capital planning committee to complete other projects while allowing the library's construction fund to grow, Sanford told the board, which approved the delay.

But substantial planning for the library is expected to happen during 2009.

Sanford told the board she's budgeting $140,000 for architectural fees in 2009 because building designs would have to be in place before the county could bid out construction in late 2009 for a 2010 groundbreaking.

"It's going to be a race to the finish to see if (the current building) makes it," Sanford said.

The aging Headquarters building leaks during storms, Sanford said.

Former library director Pete Giacoma, who now works as a part-time consultant for the library, told the Deseret News in 2007 that the building also struggles to serve the needs of local residents.

Delaying the construction on a new Headquarters will also push back future library construction, Sanford told the board.

The county will build a new branch in Kaysville, because the current building will revert back to the city of Kaysville by 2016.

Depending on how tax revenue grows over the next few years, a new branch could open in Kaysville as soon as 2014 or as late as 2015, Sanford said.

Following the Kaysville branch construction, the Syracuse branch will need to be expanded, she said.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com

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