Bee Cave selects architect, builder for new library
By hiring the same architects who designed the Austin Central Library, the city of Bee Cave is hoping to see similar results when it opens a new library in 2025. Officials said a bigger library is needed to keep up with growing demand.
The Bee Cave City Council approved the architectural and construction firms on Jan. 10 for the building of the library. City officials said to expect sitework to begin within the next few months.
The council selected Lake Flato Architects to design the new library and Hoar Construction to build it. The design phase is to start in February with the goal to finish construction by the third quarter of 2025. The new library, to be built at 13801 Bee Cave Parkway, is estimated to be 24,000 square feet, said City Manager Clint Garza.
Garza said he interviewed the architectural firm before the approval and that the firm’s qualifications “rose to the top” of the submittals. He said he knew Lake Flato would deliver a beautiful and functional design based on one of the firm’s previous projects — Austin Central Library, which opened in 2017.
“It’s not going to look the same, but the quality of the architecture, the design there and how that space fits where it is, is as perfect as we can think of,” Garza said.
More:Bee Cave moves forward with plans for new public library
Garza said the City Council did a needs assessment in 2014 on a possible new library.
“We were undersized in 2014," Garza said, "and the numbers have only increased since then.”
Barbara Hathaway, who has been the director of the Bee Cave Public Library since 2005, also interviewed the architectural and construction firms. She said she has watched the library transform from a temporary portable building into the current location in the Hill Country Galleria, and now envisioning a library large enough to handle community events without interrupting its services.
Hathaway said the current library had to pause programming for situations like vaccination clinics and voting. With the new library, Hathaway said there will be a dedicated space that no one can “bump” them from.
According to census data, Bee Cave's population has grown from about 5,000 people in 2011 to about 8,500 in 2021. Officials estimate the city's population will grow to about 15,000 people by 2038. In light of that growth, Hathaway said she talked with Lake Flato officials about flexible open space during the interview.
“What works in 2025 may not be ideal in 2030,” Hathaway said. “There’s ways to do things that I think will let us really make a space we can grow into.”
In December, the library held its annual Merrymaking Saturday, which brought in a record 1,600 people. Hathaway called the turnout “unbelievable.”
“There’s such a hunger in the community for fun things to do with the whole family,” she said.
More:Bee Cave librarian: Planning for new library
One thing Hathaway said she enjoys about the current location in the Galleria is that families would often walk around, shop and go out to dinner and find themselves coming into the library due to the convenient location.
“There’s just so much going on in Bee Cave right now,” Hathaway said. “We just love being a part of the whole mix.”
Hathaway said there have been great partnerships between the current library and Galleria businesses that would help sponsor events or donate items for prizes.
“I hope we’ll be able to continue those kinds of relationships (with the businesses at the Galleria),” Hathaway said. “But it will be equally exciting to try to come up with programming that will draw people out to the (new) library.”
Hathaway said there will be community outreach, focus groups and surveys to invite people to give input on the new library.
“We want to hear from (the people of Bee Cave),” Hathaway said. “This building belongs to them, and we want to hear their ideas for what they’d like to see the new library provide.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bee Cave selects architect, builder for new public library
