Deerfield Library closing in on temporary location

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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:26AM

The Deerfield Library Board will decide Feb. 1 where it will temporarily re-locate the contents of its facility while its $12 million expansion and renovation takes place.

Board members attending a special meeting that day will choose between two unnamed sites — both in the Lake/Cook corridor — then will announce its decision Feb. 2, Library Director Mary Pergander said.

“We are negotiating with the owners of the two sites for the best possible price so we can put all the dollars we can in the new facility, not in the temporary site,” Pergander said.

The present library building, 920 N. Waukegan Road, will be vacated and gutted. The library will move everything it can to a smaller site, no matter which is chosen, Pergander added.

“I tell my staff, ‘Think of it as moving from a three-bedroom house to a two-bedroom condo. We will be taking our collections and all of our staff, and it won’t be pretty. We’ll be jammed in’,” Pergander said.

“But we’ll be moving back to the equivalent of a larger, four-bedroom house.”

Library Board President Ken Abosch noted that both spaces under consideration are about 20,000 square feet, significantly smaller than the 32,000 square foot facility the library’s collections are housed in now, because the board is being cost conscious.

Both properties are vacant and can be occupied when the library is ready. Both have ample parking and can be built-out to look more like a library, Abosch added.

“The issue comes down to cost, but not necessarily down to the price of the lease. The cost of the build-outs will be different, so that is what we are now negotiating,” he said.

“We hope to have a lease signed by the middle of February the latest, but we also have to submit the plans for review by various commissions for approval before we proceed.”

The Library Board hopes to move into the chosen quarters between mid-May and the end of May, and stay about a year to accommodate the construction, Abosch said.

Deerfield voters in November 2010 approved a $12 million borrowing plan for the library that would raise property taxes about $90 more a year on a home with a market value of $500,000.

The Library Board directed the creation of construction documents in September. This month, the staff plans to advertise for bids. In February, it expects to decide upon its temporary quarters.

This summer, workers will begin construction on the remodeling and expansion projects. And in late fall of 2013, the library will re-open its doors at 920 Waukegan Road.

Renovation is to include the installation of new heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, the reconfiguration and expansion of the interior by 10,000 square feet for more meeting space and new technology.

Plans include expanded space for the library’s growing collection of books, periodicals and audio visual media.

There will be a new parking lot with a revised traffic pattern, nearby off-site staff parking, and improved landscaping, as well as exterior lighting.