Library plans center on city

Plans to build a new library in Spokane Valley are progressing steadily, with the Spokane County Library District’s board selecting an architect to design it last week.

Integrus Architecture also will develop cost estimates needed for the district to put a tax levy before voters as early as next November. The district is hoping to pick a site around which to form those plans soon, but what remains unclear is how the library will fit into a plan Spokane Valley is forming to redevelop Sprague Avenue and use open land there for a new city center.

“All things being equal, we would certainly prefer to be part of the (city center) development,” said library district director Mike Wirt.

But as the district works to open a new building in 2010, consultants for the city have indicated it usually takes five years or so to plan, finance and build a city center. That difference in schedules has library district officials looking for more information from the city on its plans for the center and when it will make a final decision where to put it.

At its meeting last week, library board members said they want to meet with city officials in the near future to find out more about Spokane Valley’s schedule and when they can be sure the center will, in fact, be built, Wirt said.

“We can’t do too much until we know where we are going to be,” Wirt said.

Two weeks ago, City Council and Planning Commission members instructed the consultants to tentatively plan the center for unused land on the south side of Sprague, east of University. The city would use new building regulations, public investment and deals with developers to ensure it is built cohesively and according to the city’s plans.

It’s unclear how much of that will be in place by next November’s election, but Mayor Diana Wilhite said the city should have a plan for developing the center by January and a conceptual layout by next spring.

“I think that well before we get to that point the Spokane County Library Board should feel comfortable with the direction we’re going,” she said.

The district is independent from the city government, and if waiting for the city could delay the new library the board could decide to build it somewhere else. Those involved in both the city’s and the district’s plans, though, have enthusiastically supported the library being part of the city center. Architects say libraries are great at bringing in the foot traffic crucial to the success of the mixed-use developments, and library officials have described the center as an ideal location for their new building.

“We really are hoping that there be some civic presence in the city center,” said Bill Grimes of Studio Cascade, who is working on the Sprague study.

Public buildings can help tie the area together, Grimes said, and the layout of a new downtown will depend greatly on public investments by the city and, possibly, the library district.

According to presentations from consultants, that investment could take the form of streets, public plazas, a city hall or other government buildings. In the coming months the city will hold two public workshops on the Sprague study, and the council will begin to iron out the details of how it wants a center to develop.