Bids will be sought within the next two weeks on cabinets, other mill work, furnishings and additional equipment for the new Bingham Creek Library in West Jordan.
County Library Director Eileen B. Longsworth told the Salt Lake County Library Board, which met Monday afternoon at Holladay Branch Library, that officials anticipate the new library, now about 30 percent complete, will be ready to open next summer.Longsworth said construction was halted for a month on the building at 4834 W. 9000 South because of a shortage in locally fabricated steel. But construction resumed the last week of September. Workmen are making good progress. Only one change order has been required, and the building is on budget, she said.
The total cost of the library will be about $3.5 million, including land, architects' fees, furnishings and equipment.
"We are already in the midst of purchasing books and other materials for the library," the director said. A $1.25 million budget has been set aside for that purpose.
Longsworth presented design drawings for a new library in Riverton and gave a progress report on plans for a new library in Draper.
Bids will be requested by late December for construction of the 12,000-square-foot Riverton Library, to be built in an 1880s-to-1910-style required by Riverton city and reminiscent of a Carnegie-type facility, Longsworth said.
MHTN Architects Inc., Salt Lake City, was selected earlier this year to design the Riverton and Bingham Creek libraries. Earlier this year, Longsworth said she believed a move could be made by Sept. 15, 1998, from the old library in the Riverton Plaza Shopping Center, 12600 S. Redwood Road, to the new library, 12830 S. Redwood, which is on the Riverton Community Center site.
The Riverton Library budget, including land, architects' fees, construction costs, furnishings and equipment, totals about $2 million. The library is scheduled to open in early 1999.
Meanwhile, the county library staff will request Salt Lake County Commission approval for purchase of 3 acres of land from Draper City at 300 East and approximately 12100 South for a new library. It will be built after the year 2000.
In March the county opened a newly expanded Draper Library, located just off the east parking lot to city offices. But those facilities, located in an area of City Hall that was damaged by fire, are just temporary.
About 3,000 items were checked out each month in the old Draper Library. In the new facilities "we are checking out over 9,000 items a month," Longsworth said.
Last year county library officials tried to purchase 5 acres of property from a private seller for a new library in Draper. But county commissioners rejected the purchase because the seller wanted more than the appraised value of the land.