10/16/2002 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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mentioned the siting of the building was done after doing studies with the city early on. He said siting the building on Lorain was desirable because of the in-age from the majority of the community from Lorain. He added the parking in the iniddle was placed there to take care of the building, and also to provide parking for the green space which will be accessible to the public throughout the day. By putting the parking in the middle, they have the opportunity to access the parking and the building from both Lorain Rd. and Butternut Ridge. The driveways coming in and out both have 3 lanes for the traffic to be able to turn left and right. The park area that is off of Butternut Ridge has a walking track around it, a circuit track, as well as a straight linear sidewalk that comes into a plaza area that has a gazebo as an alternate. It continues on through the parking lot to the main entrance of the building. One of the features of the parking lot to protect the pedestrians is the placement of speed bumps in each of the drive crossing areas. This will encourage traffic to slow down, and the off setting drives will discourage a direct cut through from Butternut Ridge to Lorain. They have a drive up book drop for the return of materials to the library. They have moved the plan around a bit based on the comments from the various committees and commissions. A person will be able to come in and drive straight through to drop off books and come back around and come to a stopping point and either continue into the parking lot or turn and come back out. He referred to the plans and pointed out the area for delivery of materials coming and going from the library. He also pointed out the area for an enclosure for a dumpster, an emergency generator and electric transformer. It will all be together in a brick enclosure that is connected to a brick side wall, which runs the length of the site from the middle of the library, out to Butternut. The idea was to hide the bus garage that is on the other side and give a backdrop to the building. He inentioned the outdoor seating area, and a formal garden in the front, which is composed of brick and decorative metal fencing. It will be open and accessible to the public at all times. There is a children's reading garden off to the side and that is also brick with decorative metal fencing inserts. That will only be accessible for programs. The library does not want children going out there or parents taking children out there because there are safety issues as well as the issue of monitoring material going outside: He added that all materials will exit through the main door where the security devices are located. He said there is a small staff patio outside. He mentioned there is a ground sign near the entrance going off of Butternut. There is a ground sign at the midpoint on Lorain. There is also going to be a historical marker located near the main walk coming into the site. It is the marker that is currently across the street at the library. It is the Oxcart Library sign. Mr. Hunsicker indicated he would like to go through the floor plan and come back to the elevations and landscaping plans. He pointed out the front door and lobby. The staff support area is on the right hand side, which includes offices, sorting rooms and ancillary support rooms that they need. On the left hand side is the conference center. It has a meeting room, smaller conference and computer training room, the public restrooms, a vending area, family restroom, and an elevator that services a 6,000 square foot basement. As you progress into the library, the centerpiece of the building is a reading room that will have an indoor water feature which has been designed using some of the foundation stones of a house on Butternut Ridge. He said that forming a hub around the central meeting area are all the service areas. There is the children's area with its own reading room and restrooms, and the non-fiction collection. The location of that near the children's area is important because it is an integrated collection meaning there are children's non-fiction books there. If a child needs to do research, a librarian will be taking the kids back and forth to that part of the collection. There is the reference area which has coinputers, reference materials, as well as two quiet study rooms. There is the AV department and behind that is the teen room with computers and reading areas. As you come around, the fiction collection and periodicals is next with reading spaces and study tables. Mr. Hunsicker then reviewed the basement. He said there is no usable public space right now. The mechanical, electrical, and telephone equipment will be down there, as well as shelf space for future development. There is elevator service, stairs, and egress capacity for public use later. He continued by discussing the landscape plan. It is designed to concentrate most of the new landscaping around the new building as well as landscaping within the parking area. It will augment the main walk and new green space. There are a lot of existing trees that will remain in tact. They actually walked the site with the forester and identified trees that need to come down. They moved the driveway 10