June 12, 2008
www.northfulton.com
FULTON COUNTY - Voters will be faced with an increased bond referendum to fund a new Central Library in Fulton County, thanks to an unanimous vote to add the facility to the library master plan by the Fulton County Commission on June 4.
The commission initially approved only renovating the Central Library when they viewed the Library Facility Master Plan back in March. However, District 2 Commissioner Robb Pitts requested that the commission and the Library Board of Trustees review the proposal and include a new Central Library Facility that is more accessible and technologically advanced than the old building, located at Margaret Mitchell Square in Atlanta.
"We have cleared the second major hurdle in bringing this project to the voters in November," said Pitts, referring to the library board's approving vote on May 28. "While residents will have the final say on whether this project goes forward, as part of the bond referendum, I believe they value education and learning as much as I do and will be excited to add a state-of-the-art learning facility to our library system."
The new library would probably be around 300,000 square feet and share a similar upgrade effect as Minneapolis, Seattle, Jacksonville and Nashville, which also constructed new central libraries in recent years.
Jacksonville's new central library cost $95 million to build in 2005, according to Fulton County Library System Director John Szabo.
"If possible I think it would be in the county's best interest to sell the [current] building to someone who would preserve it," said Szabo, answering a question about what to do with the current building if a new library is built.
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County staff will finalize bond referendum figures, which now includes the Central Library project, before the June 18 commission meeting.
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