CALS main branch renovation design goes slightly over budget to add key features
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A delay and a budget increase are now expected before people can get back into the main branch of the Central Arkansas Library System.
Lead design director Reese Rowland with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects said an extra $1.2 million on top of the $25 million budget in the design estimate will be worth it when people see the building transformed for the next generation.
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Rowland said he speaks from experience because he brought back the same team that changed the Rock Street location from a 1920s warehouse to a library in 1997.
“We came up with the idea that if we could spend a little more time we could get all those things in the budget or as close to budget as possible without losing anything that the public or the library wanted,” Rowland stated.
One feature that would have been lost without the extra money is a planned rooftop event space for the public. All six floors from the roof to the basement which will be a computer lab are completely redesigned. Rowland said making the most of the budget took extra time too, but they only have one chance to get it right.
“If you would not have taken the few months or a month extra and figured out to get those things budgeted they wouldn’t be in the project at all for the next 30, 50 years,” Rowland stated.
The Rock Street location closed to the public in September 2023. Though a wall-breaking ceremony marked the start of the renovation, construction will start officially in or near March 2024. It has an estimated 12-to-14-month timeline with plans to open in the Spring of 2025.
“I’m impatient by nature, so I’ve been wanting it to happen since we moved out, closed to the public on September 1, but it was unrealistic because a lot of things had to happen,” CALS Executive Director Nate Coulter said.
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Coulter stated leading up to the September 1 temporary closure, an average of 425 used the library a day. He said it was his belief following the renovation with the features promised, they could double or triple that number.
“We want them to feel like the library is a part of the constellation of amenities that attract them here,” Coulter said.
To attract more people, the main branch will have a far more open design with more windows and fewer concrete walls to account for the additional greenspace since the onramp was removed. There will be a new Boulevard Cafe location right by the entrance. Also, the kids and teen centers will be at and above ground level instead of several stories high.
The project is funded through 2021 and 2022 millages. Coulter said accounting for other expenses apart from construction, it is closer to a $30 million investment. He said even in an increasingly digital environment, the physical investment is worth the cost for the enrichment, entertainment and growth of the city around it.
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The architect said the estimate coming in a million over its $25 million budget has contingencies in place and could change with the final design.
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