PROJECT SUMMARY
The Houston-Love Memorial Library board and staff are undertaking the construction of a new 60,000 square foot state-of-the-art library to serve the residents of Dothan and Houston County. The 95,000+ residents of Houston County will benefit by having their educational, informational and recreational needs met with the collection, programming and services offered by a state-of-the-art library facility and staff.
Total number of usable square feet Current At completion
36,000 60,000
PROJECT NEED
The Houston-Love Memorial Library proposes the construction of a new 60,000 square foot state-of-the-art public library to serve the residents of Dothan and Houston County. The Library strives to meet the educational, informational and recreational needs of its patrons. The present building is 36,000 square feet but not all of that is functional space. It was originally built in 1940 as an elementary school and was modified in the mid-1960s to house the public library. The plumbing and wiring of the majority of the library are original to the building as a school. The pipes under the building are wrapped in asbestos as was typical of construction in 1940. We have multiple electrical breaker panels and still have several “fuse” boxes that make troubleshooting electrical problems a nightmare. Although a ramp was added to the front of the building, there are no automatic doors allowing easy access to wheelchair-bound patrons or those with difficulty opening heavy entrance and exit doors. Space designed for another purpose is never fully functional when adapted for a different purpose; we still have hallways with transom windows and classroom numbers over doors. A flat roof over the former auditorium of the school has leaked repeatedly for years even after replacing the roof; mold and mildew are ever-present with no humidity or environmental controls other than 18 different air conditioners and a gas-fired steam boiler. Repairs are constantly being made to aging compressors, pumps, etc. As a result temperatures vary widely within the building from area to area. Our main problem, however, is lack of space. This has severely limited our ability to add new formats, services and programs. Although we created a computer lab from the former periodicals storage area, the computer instruction and assistance we offer our patrons is restricted by the availability of space. Our children’s program suffers the most with no separate children’s programming space, no family-friendly bathrooms and limited space for displays, activities, educational games, etc. Our Department for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is a long distance from the entrance making it difficult for those patrons needing service to even get to the area. Although a used elevator is installed in the building, its door is not wide enough to be ADA-compliant. Our bathrooms designed for use by handicapped patrons and with space for wheelchairs are far removed from the entrance and can only be accessed by going the entire length of our main stack area.
The residents of Dothan and Houston County deserve a modern, clean building that has adequate space to offer exemplary library programs and services.
PROJECT STATUS
The internal planning for a new library has been done over the last 15 months. Each staff member was asked to write a description of an ideal space for the services of the department in which they work, many of them overlapping. The director talked with Alice Stephens and George Stewart, librarians now working as building consultants, for an overview of the process. The husband of our retired children’s librarian is an architect and volunteered his assistance in guiding me through the interviews, selection and contractual process. A space needs assessment was done by the director incorporating staff input and referring to many standard building tools, books borrowed from APLS, online research, discussion with other librarians who had recently completed building projects, etc. Using recommendations from librarians in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, as well as professional journals, a preliminary list of potential architects and design consultants was developed. The websites and recommendations were provided to the library board and staff. The board selected four architects from Alabama and Tennessee to invite for initial presentations and interviews. Davis Architects of Birmingham has much experience in building libraries of all types and was selected as the design consultant to work in collaboration with a local partner. All local architects were invited to make a presentation to the board; Neil Davis and Julee Potter of Davis Architects and Howard Green, the husband of our former staff member, sat in on the interviews. J. Michael Lee of Dothan was chosen as the architect of record and the other half of our design and architectural team.
An entire block in downtown Dothan has been selected as the proposed site and the city will acquire the property for $700,000 after receiving an official feasibility report from the architects. The Dothan City Commission has already given the library $60,000 for initial architectural fees and has committed to a $10,000,000 contribution for construction costs. The Houston County Commission has committed to $1,000,000 for construction costs. An application for $1,000,000.00 has been submitted to the state of Alabama through the APSCE Incentive Fund. Some contacts have been made to other foundations; no firm commitments have been received. Once firm blueprints are finalized, local donors will be courted with “naming opportunities” based on actual square footage and projected construction costs.
Much of the vision for a new library aligns with the Foundation’s initiatives of improving education, strengthening communities and promoting arts and culture. There will be permanent, enduring benefits for the residents of Dothan and Houston County who are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as being underserved, economically disadvantaged and predominantly rural with a diverse mix of ethnic and racial minorities. The project is being led by trained LEEDS architects and the environment will be preserved and enhanced in every phase.