By Holly Olson.
The crowd was angry and the mood was dark. If you got there late, and didn’t snag one of the 80 seats, tough luck - they didn’t care if you were old, sick, or pregnant (as yours truly was at 24 weeks). And if you disagreed with the masses, well, then consider yourself lucky if you weren’t lynched on the spot.
Was this some medieval gathering to watch a beheading? Or perhaps a Salem witch trial? Hardly. It was a meeting about a library - specifically, whether the Wheaton library should be renovated at its existing site or moved to a new location in the center of downtown Wheaton.
Since the meeting was held on February 9th, there has been a lot of discussion about this topic. Just Up the Pike has had several posts about the issue and the Gazette ran an article and several Letters to the Editor about the topic. So of course, I couldn’t stay out of this for long (albeit somewhat belated - blame it on pregnancy fatigue) because I truly care about what happens to Wheaton.
In Part One of this series, I will provide some basic background information on the library and the renovation process. In Part Two, I will summarize the community concerns expressed at the library meeting and assess the validity of each argument. In Part Three, I will lay out the benefits for relocating the library to the Wheaton Central Business District (CBD).
So before I get into the nitty gritty, let’s talk about the library’s history. The Wheaton library was erected at its current site at Georgia Avenue and Arcola in 1960. Interestingly enough, prior to its current location, the library was situated in downtown Wheaton, roughly where Ferdinand’s restaurant currently is.
As a general rule, the County likes to renovate libraries every 20 years. However, the actual period between renovations is now running about 23 to 25 years. The Wheaton library last went through a full renovation in 1983 and a minor renovation about 7-10 years ago. This minor renovation was cosmetic in nature and involved things like sprucing up the paint, changing the shelving, and creating space for the computer room. So, at 26 years since the last major overhaul, the library is definitely due.
During a major library renovation, the County upgrades the building and its systems. In addition, the library may also be redesigned to accommodate changes in service needs. For example, older libraries are often upgraded to account for technological changes such as the increased use of computers and the internet. If a library is renovated at its existing location, it is typically shut down for a period of 1.5 to 2 years. If a library is moved to a different site, the shut down period is temporary; typically only weeks while the content of the building such as books and equipment are moved.
In 2008, the International Downtown Association issued a report examining Wheaton’s prospects for redevelopment. In particular, the report focused on the use of County assets for jumpstarting redevelopment. One of the primary findings of the report was that the library should be relocated to serve as an anchor for a town square in the center of the Central Business District (CBD).
The Wheaton Library was initially scheduled to be in the 2005-2010 CIP. However, it was removed from the CIP when the County Council requested the County further study the issue of relocation versus renovation. One of the ways that the County solicited input was through the community meeting on 2/9. There was also a public comment period (which ended on 3/2) during which the community could provide input online. After input has been received, the County will decide how to move forward and whether the library should be placed in the 2009-2014 CIP in September.
It is worthwhile to mention here that the County has recently shifted its strategy in terms of redeveloping Wheaton. The County is now looking at the approach used in Silver Spring, which would entail using a master developer to develop the area around Lot 13 (the parking lot in the center of the CBD). If the library was relocated, it would likely be part of a mixed-use development that would be executed by the Master Developer. This process would take some time, and therefore, the library would continue to exist on its current site until the redevelopment project was complete. In order for the library to continue operations at its current site during redevelopment, some minor renovation work would be required - such as addressing HVAC issues, upgrading indoor and outdoor lighting, and fixing the entry doors.
In Part Two of this series, I will address some of the concerns raised by the community at the meeting on February 9th.
Holly Olson is a former Chair of the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Wheaton Library: What's the 411? Part One
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4 comments:
I grew up across the street from the Wheaton Library; one thing I remember is the wholesome community atmosphere that existed in Wheaton and how important the library was to everyone. The Parking lot on the side of the Library used to be a green lawn and we played ball there when I was a young man.
Wheaton is due for a Master Plan process and I am aware of Natalie Cantors desire to rebuild Wheaton CBD and Parking Lot 13 in the image of Downtown Silver Spring.
I truly believe that the Community should be involved in any significant change to the library.
Many people do not know this, but during my time as President of the Montgomery County Civic Federation, the Wheaton Regional Citizens Association asked me to help them work out differences with relocation of the Wheaton Rescue Squad. The Rescue Squad had purchased the property immediately across Arcola Ave. from the Wheaton Library. The major issue at that time was noise and where the entrance to the Rescue Squad would be and what impact their Noise had on neighboring homes.
The Rescue squad was very accommodating worked with the neighborhood and designed their entrance and exit around the neighboring homes so as to not exceed maximum noise levels.
The Wheaton Library was expected to remain a public facility, so noise was not a factor on that property. I hope that any consideration for the reuse of that property and the relocation of the library includes consideration of a relocated Wheaton Rescue Squad on the corner of Arcola and Georgia Ave. It seems to me if there was community input conflicts like this would be considered, lets hope the County includes Neighborhood consideration. I wonder when Wheaton is due for a Master Plan Process or is the Master Builder Concept to replace community input, I hope not and will demand Community Participation if I am the next Council-person for District 4
Looking at the actual report, the idea of relocating the Wheaton Library isn't actually, as proposed, so much about relocating the Wheaton Library as it is to provide a cornerstone to the conversion of Lot #13 to a city-square type of park, which is something I can definitely see as an excellent development. However, the report also says that the same building to house the proposed New Library should also be a Senior/Cultural center, and that's not a bad idea either. The new library, thus, would sit right on the site -- more or less -- of the present Mid County Services Center, a rather bland and nondescript building that is seriously underused, considering the site. Access is mostly restricted to people with appointments, etc., and those people who actually work there. Thus the building is a sort of blockage in the flow of energy and people at this major transit hub.
That being said, I think what's making people so angry is the idea that their own beloved neighborhood library is to be replaced with new developments that they don't want. Furthermore, the ongoing redevelopment of the Georgia Avenue facing upper level of the Wheaton Triangle has removed a rather large and well-stocked used-bookstore, Bonifant Books, which wasn't merely forced to relocate, but was effectively driven out of business. (It operates mostly by appointment only, out of a shed in the back end of Kensington, last time I checked.)
Thus, a favorite bookstore is ruined and removed, the new library is probably not going to be as big as the old one unless perhaps someone wants to plant an immense monolith to loom over the proposed redevelopment of a town-square-like public space, considering that it is also supposed to contain a Seniors facility and a Cultural Center.
The last straw, thus, is the replacement of the longstanding library with new and probably extremely high-density development. Probably everyone that sees it is thinking "sweet deal to keep the developer money flowing into campaign coffers".
To me, the solution is to build a CBD library annex, to the latest modern standard, let the annex be known to be mostly for metrorail riders and the seniors at the senior center, and leave the extant library where it is, though perhaps a slight downsizing and/or extreme renovation might be in order, just to shift over more to multimedia or whatever the Next Generation of internet may prove to be. But more high-density infill development in downtown Wheaton? One word sums it up: Yuck.
And I bet a lot of the people were muttering that word at that meeting...
A library in the downtown area will not revitalize Wheaton. Comparing Wheaton to Rockville is a mistake the two are in no way alike.
Rockville, the county seat, has always had a large amount of office space, 10 million sqft plus, being the seat of government and all of the ancillary offices that creates, accounting, legal, etc.. What was lacking in Rockville was residential density in the downtown area. The businesses in downtown prior to the development of the new town center had an abundance of Mon-Fri/9-5 business some evening and very little weekend business so the focus of Rockville was residential density above 1st floor retail space to place fulltime residents in the downtown area. The old Rockville library was small, underused and long neglected sitting on the south end of the downtown area across from the old courthouse, County Council building and Rockville City building with very little parking and sitting on real estate already slated for the new Courthouse. That library had to move and with redevelopment there was a spot 2-1/2 blocks away to move it to. While beautiful and certainly a vast improvement to the old library there are still parking and access issues and the new location has not added to the success of the downtown area.
Wheaton has the smallest office market in the Washington Metro area with under 1 million sqft of space. Wheaton has an abundance of residential density in and around the downtown area. The wonderful restaurants and small businesses in the downtown area have almost no Mon-Fri/9-5 business, get very little evening business but are crowded on the weekends. The focus of Wheaton revitalization needs to be the addition of office space so that Wheaton has a Mon-Fri/9-5 crowd to fill Wheaton during the week, daytime and evening, offering our fine businesses a full week of revenue and the success they deserve.
Moving the library to the center of Wheaton will create more weekend traffic on already overcrowded streets and will do nothing to draw business to our struggling small businesses. There will no longer be open accessible parking. Parents are not going to want their children to stand in front of the library and metro entrance to wait to be picked up. Young and old will no longer be able to take advantage of the programs at the library and community center together.
Renovating the existing library is the "Green and Sustainable" approach and can be accomplished in an occupied phased renovation for much less than the cost of building a new library. We renovate occupied schools, hospitals, nursing homes, office buildings, shopping centers and malls and libraries all the time so there is no reason to close the Wheaton library during renovation. Stating that it cannot be renovated while operational is a scare tactic to dissuade employees and patrons from supporting the renovation.
Do the right thing, bring office space to downtown Wheaton and leave the library where it is.
Thank you,
Mark Drury
Mr Drury, that was outstanding.
Please consider yourself appointed to be "the most sensible person in Wheaton on issues about relocating the Library".
Excellent argument, Counselor.
Watch the County utterly ignore it.
And then vote to Oust them one and all.
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