Donned in yellow hard hats with golden shovels in hand, city and
library representatives turned the dirt Monday on a $18.18 million
library construction project that has been 12 years in the
making.
Donned in yellow hard hats with golden shovels in hand, city and library representatives turned the dirt Monday on a $18.18 million library construction project that has been 12 years in the making.
Councilman Bob Dillon, who stood among the 75 attendees at the event, recalled being appointed to the city library commission in 1997 when the project was first proposed.
“I consider it a minor miracle, but I’ll take it,” Dillon said of Monday’s groundbreaking.
Actual construction on the building will begin July 26, and the project should be complete within the next 10 to 12 months, Gilroy Librarian Lani Yoshimura said.
The new two-story 53,500-square foot building will replace a leaky 12,500-square-foot structure that had stood at 7387 Rosanna St. since 1975.
A 9,388-square-foot interim facility in downtown Gilroy at 7652 Monterey St. continues to serve avid library patrons during the interim period.
City officials and library advocates said the project is thriving so far despite challenges.
Measure F, a $37 million library bond that is funding the project, received nearly 70 percent of voter support event though the measure’s campaign committee raised less money than anticipated, said Connie Rogers, who served on the Measure F campaign.
City Administrator Tom Haglund also noted that the measure was approved just as the bond market was collapsing in 2008.
More recently, the city was able to secure an $18.1 million construction bid from Milipitas-based Devcon Construction, including photovoltaic panels, solar panel maintenance costs, floor moisture sealer and Rosanna Street parking improvements. The bid was nearly $6.5 million less than anticipated.
“It’s been sort of a charmed project of sorts,” Haglund said of the library.
The new building designed also meets stringent environmental standards, including water and energy-saving measures.
Among other attributes, the future library will house a literacy program and will have space for Friends of the Library’s books sales once again, Gilroy Librarian Lani Yoshimura said.
The design of the building actually was based in part on a clay model that a local resident created during a library planing meeting, she said.
“From the very start, it’s been a very public process,” she said.
Gilroy residents love their library, Yoshimura, said, noting that 2,000 people occupied the interim building downtown in a single day before the parking lot was even finished.
Rogers said after the ceremony that it was wonderful to see the fruition of years of advocacy and toil.
“It’s a great reward after hard work and hope and prayers from all the people in Gilroy,” Rogers said.
Mayor Al Pinheiro, who offered a speech along with Yoshimura and Santa Clara County Librarian Melinda Cervantes on Monday, said the new building will be a facility in which the community can take pride.
“We have a great opportunity to show Gilroy and the rest of our region our commitment to education and lifelong learning with this wonderful project,” he said.
