LAKEPORT, Calif. – A San Francisco architectural firm working on a feasibility study on future uses of the Carnegie Library presented an update to the Lakeport City Council Tuesday evening.
Architect Mike Garavaglia and architectural conservator Jacqui Hogans of Garavaglia Architecture made the presentation to the council.
Garavaglia Architecture was hired earlier this year to conduct the study of the 96-year-old building.
Built in 1918, the building was Lakeport's library until 1985, when library operations – which had outgrown the space – were moved to a new and larger building at 1425 N. High St.
On June 18, Garavaglia and Hogans led a visioning workshop at Lakeport City Hall to gather community input on how to preserve and use the building in the years to come, as Lake County News has reported.
Hogans said the firm's work is expected to continue into the fall, with goals including the creation of an achievable plan for a revitalized and economically stable facility.
Rehabilitation of the building is another goal, as is ensuring the safety of the building and those who use it, Hogans said.
One safety issue Hogans said will need to be addressed is the concern about flooding, which the building has been prone to over its lifetime because of its close proximity to the lake.
She noted that, for a building approaching its 100th birthday, the Carnegie Library is in very good condition. Deterioration to parts of the building – including its wooden window frames – is typical for its age.
Because the library is on the National Register of Historic Places – it was added in 2008 – the restoration of it must follow standards established by the secretary of the US Department of the Interior. Those guidelines, Hogans said, include protecting “character defining features” of the building, such as its wood shelving and circulation desk.
The building's site, at the heart of Lakeport's Library Park, also is important, and Hogans said the firm has looked at site conditions as it has evaluated the building's future uses.
Hogans reported that during the visioning workshop – in which about 30 people participated – participants shared their memories of growing up and visiting the library as well as their ideas about potential uses. The need for an elevator was almost unanimous among the group, she said.
Next steps in the process of completing the report, Hogans said, include continuing to research Lake County's economic and commercial needs – which will involve working with groups like the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and the local Realtors association – and assessing proposed uses.
Hogans said the report is 75-percent finished and it's the firm's goal to present it to the city in the very near future.
Garavaglia told the council that the library requires isolated repairs, and in the restoration process deferred maintenance and code upgrades – the latter relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act – need to be undertaken, which translates into construction costs.
The question, he said, is how to pay for those upgrades, with building rent one possibility.
He said that repairs and upgrades could easily run between $250,000 to $500,000.
The $250,000 figure should be sufficient to cover basic code work and upgrading the bathrooms, Garavaglia said.
However, if seismic work was undertaken on the building – which Garavaglia said it's not yet been determined is necessary – the costs could go much higher.
If the city were to rent the building, he suggested a figure of $1 per square foot for the 3,000-square-foot building, which could be used toward improvements.
He said that in the visioning workshop, community members didn't support commercial activity at the building.
Alternately, the city could simply pay for the upgrades without trying to rely on proceeds from a longterm lease agreement, Garavaglia said.
Councilman Marc Spillman said that when he and his family moved to Lakeport in 1999, one of the things that drew them was the Carnegie Library, which they spotted while driving through the city.
Looking down Second Street toward the building, “It's probably the best view in the city,” Spillman said.
Garavaglia said the federal rules for historic building renovations allow for additions like a deck off the back of the library, which was a recurring proposal in the visioning workshop.
Mayor Kenny Parlet was concerned about the cost of an elevator.
Garavaglia, however, noted that the library is not a large building and so can probably use a residential-style elevator that could run between $50,000 and $60,000.
Silveira said the June visioning workshop was well attended. “It was a very engaged group.”
Garavaglia agreed. “I thought the energy that was here in this community was very constructive,” he said, noting he appreciated that and that divisiveness makes his firm's work difficult.
During public comment, Carolyn Ruttan, the county's invasive species program coordinator, said she wants the building for the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center that she's forming.
“I want to bring science back to the shores of Clear Lake,” she said.
Suzanne Lyons, who attended the visioning workshop, asked if the interior of the building can be redesigned, and if the inside stairs – which she said seem to split the building in half – can be moved.
Garavaglia explained that Carnegie Libraries often were designed as very symmetrical buildings on pedestals. As such, the approach staircase is a very important aspect of the architecture which he said does tend to cut the building in half.
While the interior stairs are steep, they do meet code requirements, Garavaglia said. The exterior concrete stairs also are steep, and he said he might champion making them more gentle.
Garavaglia said his firm would dissuade the city from completely remodeling the interior of the building's main floor. However, he said the circulation desk is a cabinet that can be moved, and some of the shelving could be moved.
As for moving the interior stairs, the staircase would have to be turned at a 90-degree angle, which would be expensive and disruptive of the building's design, Garavaglia said.
There are fewer character defining aspects in the building's downstairs, where he suggested more changes could be made.
The council took no action at the end of Garavaglia's update. Formal action is not anticipated until the final report is submitted to the council.
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