Council approves a library design, budgets to keep costs in line
Architect to find ways of cutting costs of design
'Sunshade' added to entry
By Kara Chalmers
By approving a building and landscape design on Jan. 17, the Saratoga City Council allowed plans for the new expanded and renovated Saratoga Community Library to go forward. But the council added the mandate to their approval that the final construction cost be no higher than $14.5 million, which is $500,000 less than called for in the bond measure for the new library--to allow for overruns.
The library will be improved at its current location on the corner of Saratoga and Fruitvale avenues, because Saratoga voters passed a $15 million bond measure last March. The target date for the opening of the new library is scheduled for November 2002.
The council added the condition that the project cost not just be under budget, but under $14.5 million, because two different cost estimates to construct the library as designed are higher than $15 million. The architect's cost estimators submitted a total cost of over $15.5 million, and the city's construction management company estimated a cost of about $15.1 million.
"More money is not an option," said Councilman Evan Baker at the meeting on Jan. 17.
Principal architect Mark Schatz responded to the council, which was adamant about keeping the project under budget--by saying that he has already put together a list of what he could cut back on or cut out of the plans to bring costs down. He called the cutting process "value engineering," and said he, the construction manager and the city's Library Expansion Committee would meet to review and prioritize options to reduce the cost estimate to no more than $14.5 million on Jan. 25
One suggestion Schatz raised at the meeting was to decrease the size of the building's area by 2,000 square feet, which he said could be done by reducing the height of the book stacks by a couple of inches. Other suggestions were to decrease seating and shelving, to not recycle some of the wood from the walls and ceiling in the existing library, and to look into cutting the lighting budget.
Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith suggested that cutting back on recycling the wood shouldn't be considered as a way to save costs. Mayor John Mehaffey suggested not to cut back on lighting, since lighting is one area that is most lacking in the current building.
Mehaffey said that barring an emergency, the extra $500,000 would just not be borrowed and Saratoga citizens would be saved money.
Schatz noted his cost estimates might have been affected by the cost of temporary accommodations for the library during the 18 months the new one will be under construction. While the council expressed a desire to keep the temporary accommodations in the city, according to Schatz, using other cities' libraries in the meantime--such as Campbell's or Cupertino's--would be more economical.
"I don't like the idea of not having a temporary library," said Waltonsmith. She also responded to Schatz's suggestion that it would be less expensive--though less convenient--to locate the temporary quarters in the parking lot of the existing library during construction, by saying she did not like that idea, either.
The design process that Schatz and his team has followed for the past six months has included much input from the public and city officials. At public meetings in September, October and November, Schatz presented three different site plans and three different building design plans to the Saratoga community. The public reached consensus on one particular site design and one building design. The consensus was to have one parking lot for the library, with spaces for 165 cars, and a one-story building, about 49,000 square feet large, which incorporates the existing building and builds out from it on three sides.
Although the plans call for an additional 31,000 square feet of space to be taken up by the new and expanded library, the plans affect the surrounding Heritage Orchard, in which the current library sits, very little. Any trees taken out to make room for the parking lot and library addition will be replaced, so there will actually be a net gain of orchard trees by the end of the project, according to the landscape plans.
Schatz brought detailed models and drawings to the December community meeting. The main concern of some people was the design for the new library's entryway. The entryway was designed as 1 1/2 stories high and made up of clear windows.
The design now has been changed to reflect the concerns raised in December, one of which was too much direct sunlight falling on the librarians sitting at the circulation desk inside the front doors. The design now includes a type of sunshade over the windows to keep direct sunlight out.
According to Councilman Stan Bogosian, who had a problem with the original entryway presented in December, the bond language made it clear that Saratogans like the existing library. The previous entryway design--set apart from both sides of the building, since it was recessed and higher, with supporting beams that resembled tree branches-- was just too much of a break from the existing design, he said.
"A library that retains the feel of the existing library... in the long run will be very much appreciated by members of the community," Bogosian said.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
