by Laura Berthold Monteros
for Altadenablog/Altadena Online
Lynn Walker was highly motivated to attend Saturday's meeting to talk about renovations to the main Altadena Library. She had to go around to a side door to enter the community room in her motorized wheelchair, and she spoke using a combination of speech and a type pad.
“I’ve lived in Altadena 32 years,” she said. “I’ve raised three children. I’m in the profession of a special ed teacher.” The children she taught were moderately to severely disabled.
Now, she said, she sees it from the other side -- her disability, ALS, is recent. She expressed how frustrating and time-consuming it is to have to ask for doors to be unlocked. She said, “I love our library. I want access for everyone—even wheelchairs.”
Photo: Lynn Walker is flanked by Altadena Library Association trustee David Datz and board president Dale LaCasella.
The library patron exemplifies how the Altadena Library District board of trustees is between a rock and a hard place.
The rock is the 1967 mid-century modern library building designed by Boyd Georgi and the desire to maintain its integrity and beauty.
The hard place is the necessity of meeting ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements, which will take space and could force the library to cut its collection by one-third and cut space for children unless square footage is added.
After an ADA compliance survey five years ago pointed out numerous deficiencies in the current library, from simple signage to more serious issues of accessibility of restrooms and the elevator, the trustees put the renovation project out for bids. They chose CWA, an architectural firm with extensive experience in renovating mid-century libraries, and plans were drawn to expand the existing 21,000 square feet by at least 50 percent.
That’s where the plans remain—on the drawing board—pending receipt of a $400,000 federal appropriation to fund the studies necessary to move forward. The Altadena Library Foundation formed last October to launch a capital campaign to raise the estimated $16-$20 million it would cost to bring those plans to fruition, and also to allow for contingency funds to cover rising costs.
Last Saturday, Oct. 2, the board of trustees held a community meeting to address concerns and answer questions that some Altadena residents have expressed regarding the expansion. This was the latest effort in community outreach that included, according to board of trustees secretary David Datz, a citizens committee to come up with a vision for the library, a public survey, two community meetings, and two open sessions with the architects. The plans, which at this point are only conceptual, have been posted on the library website for some time.
The meeting was civil and respectful with many areas of agreement among residents and library trustees. There was no disagreement for the need for the ADA upgrades and an understanding that these renovations require space, which can pare down the square footage available for the collection and programs.
The trustees are worried about lawsuits, both from users of the library who are handicapped, and what CASp (Certified Accessibility Specialist) architect James Vitale referred to as “drive-by lawsuits”, where lawyers go looking for non-compliant buildings and file suit. For this reason, the first ADA renovations will be done to the Bob Lucas branch on Lincoln Avenue, to “take it off the map as a target. Those renovations will come in at about $20,000.
A shared desire to preserve the iconic building, with its “indoors outdoors” feel, as one community member put it, was also expressed, and there seemed to be tacit agreement on the usages the citizens committee and public survey identified as central to the library: reading, study, and a meeting place for the community.
One community member expressed that she feared “ugly modernization” and “mansionization” of the building, and LaCasella assured the audience that the only major change in the Georgi building would be raising the level of the community room. The children’s library, she said, will be surrounded in glass and “be like a tree house”.
David Datz, in his introduction, cited 80 ADA deficiencies, “small, medium, and large” that were found in the 85-page ADA compliance report prepared by Vitale. These include wider aisles, lower stacks, larger restrooms, and a new elevator.
The current elevator is not only too small to accommodate wheelchairs, it goes only to the lower and upper levels. The mid-level community room is not accessible by elevator, so plans call for raising it to the level of the stacks. The plans put the elevator outside in a covered elevator court.
The loss of space to wider aisles and more shelving (to accommodate lower stacks) would be compensated with an addition built over the existing parking lot to the south. According to the plans, the elevation of the extension would be about the same as the current building.
Attention was also given to the preservation of the grounds. Architect Jim Nardini of CWA said that the plans were done with a view to preserving the trees and the front and side elevations in the landscape. An arborist was hired to examine the deodars to assess their health (they’re healthy) and the space needed to accommodate growth.
Both the library trustees and residents were concerned about parking. It was acknowledged that the library is “under-parked”; that is, there are insufficient spaces for the square footage, which Los Angeles County currently sets at four spaces per 1,000 square feet. The extension would be built over the existing lot but spaces would be lost, and a planned subterranean garage would still not bring the number up to code.
When a community member asked if the recommended amount of parking is really necessary and if the county could be convinced to grandfather it in, Vitale stated that if the right analysis is done, that takes into account the bus stop on the corner and accessibility, it could be possible. Steve Finney from CWA said that being a community library helps as well.
Then of course, there’s money. Residents are worried about additional taxes, the trustees are committed to keeping the operating budget within the income gained from property and parcel taxes, and Altadena Heritage is concerned the library foundation will not be able to raise enough money.
One person asked if a complete teardown and rebuild would be cheaper than trying to preserve the building, and Dale LaCasella, president of the board of trustees responded that it would, but “the people in the community want to preserve the existing building.”
Several others brought up the possibility of opening a branch in east Altadena instead of adding to the Georgi building. Datz restated the commitment to operating within the funding stream from current taxes. An expanded library can be serviced by current staff, he said, but a branch would require adding staff and increasing operating costs. He expects that the increased operating costs of an extension would be offset by making the library more energy efficient.
Gloria Putnam from Altadena Heritage read a statement signed by Mark Goldschmidt, chairman of Altadena Heritage. While the statement affirmed the design, it also urged that the library draft a scaled-back Plan B of about 7,000 square feet in case full funds cannot be raised.
But there was already financial support from one person at the meeting, who wrote a check for $1,000. She told the crowd, “A lot of us have money in savings or retirement accounts. Think about taking a chunk of it out. Because when you retire, you will have a lot of time to read.”
LINKS
Altadena Library District" http://www.altadenalibrary.org/
Altadena library Foundation http://www.altadenalibrary.org/alfoundation
Altadena Library Master Plan http://www.altadenalibrary.org/masterplan
CWA Architects http://www.cwaarchitects.com/
CALSp http://www.calcasp.com/
