Published: November 15, 2011
Updated: 11/15/2011 11:39 am
ZEPHYRHILLS - The city is moving forward with plans to double the size of the Zephyrhills Public Library.
The city council Monday authorized City Manager James Drumm to advertise for an architect to design an addition to the 4,500-square-foot building.
"I'm thrilled," library director Vicki Elkins said. "We'll be able to offer a lot of new programming. Right now, we have to go outside for our children's story time. We'll be able to add more computers, too."
The city has $1.5 million in a library building funding from the Penny for Pasco sales tax, which was approved in 2004. Jerry Pricher, who chairs the library advisory board, said the city needs to spend the money before the tax comes up for renewal in 2014.
"We need to show the voters that we did what we said we would do," Pricher said.
The council has struggled for years with how to expand library services. In 2006, the council voted to build an 18,000-square-foot library on vacant land north of the post office, but it scrapped that plan later because of the estimated $5.5 million cost.
In 2007, council members considered buying the former Wachovia Bank building at Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street. They ruled it out, however, after engineers determined the second floor could not handle the weight of the books without structural changes.
Elkins said the building would have needed at least four support beams. It also needs a new roof and would have required additional staffing.
The library board reconsidered the building last week after its sale price was reduced to $800,000, but instead reaffirmed the decision to expand at the current location.
Council President Jodi Wilkeson said she likes the idea of expanding at the site, next to City Hall, and giving the current building a facelift.
"There's a lot of opportunity to make it a really terrific end result," she said. "The appearance of the building could be completely revamped so it looks more like a public building and not a bad job from the Seventies."
Drumm said the library could expand into the parking lot. The city owns a vacant lot adjoining the property, which could be converted to a new parking lot.
In other business, the council rezoned property at Seventh Avenue and Eighth Street for a church. The building's previous use as a hookah lounge generated dozens of complaints from neighbors.
Community development director Todd Vande Berg said the neighbors support the rezoning.
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