The Columbus Metropolitan Library has scaled back their plans for a new Northside branch at 1423 North High Street. They had previously considered building a multi-story, mixed-use building that would house the library on the first floor along with office space or apartments on the upper floors.
Ben Zenitsky, Marketing & Communications Specialist for the library, confirmed last week that the new plan calls for simply building a new library branch on the site, although it has yet to be decided if it would be one or two stories.
“We fully considered the idea of having a mixed-use space, however we encountered some major issues, particularly as it pertained to parking,” he said, adding that the cost of building a parking garage on site – which would be needed to accommodate both the library and a secondary use – would be too high.
NBBJ has been selected to design the new library, which will be nearly 20,000 square feet larger than the existing branch. Construction is scheduled to start some time in 2015, with a goal of completion by the end of 2016. A temporary location to serve the neighborhood during construction has yet to be announced.
The exact footprint of the new library is also still up in the air; Zenitsky did not rule out the possibility that the buildings immediately to the north of the existing branch (which hold apartments and retail, including the Village Idiot bar) may be acquired to make room for the new building.
“We are certainly exploring our options at this point,” he said, “however no property purchases have been made.”
More information on the library’s construction plans can be found at www.columbuslibrary.org/buildings.