The East Baton Rouge Parish Library Board is set to consider scaling back some environmentally friendly features of the proposed Main Library. The board meets Thursday afternoon to vote on $5.6 million in green options, such as a raised floor and a dual skin system. David Farrar, library director, says the board may vote to cut back on some of the options in order to bring the costs back in line as to what was originally budgeted. The nearly 120,000-square-foot branch was budgeted at $40 million, but now costs are running about $2.3 million over that. “The library is not over budget,” Farrar says. “We’re giving the people what they asked for; it’s just more than what we expected.”
Farrar says if a trimmed down plan is accepted, then the costs will fall in the parameters. “We’re in a very unique position to move forward with these projects,” says Farrar, noting that the library has dedicated tax revenues to build a new Main branch, along with locations on Old Hammond Highway and in the Rouzan development. “The public is not saying stop; they want us to move forward with these projects with due diligence.” Construction on the new Main branch is set to start in about a year, and the building is set to open in April 2012. Farrar says the Rouzan branch is in the “early discussion phase,” but no construction timetable has been set.—Timothy Boone
