HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93010_0782IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PRESENTATION FROM THE LIBRARY ARCHITECT
& BRIEFING MINUTES
JUNF. 18, 2002
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met for a presentation by the
architect for the new Iredell County Library at 4:30 p.m., and held an agenda briefing
session at 5:00 p.m., on Tuesday, June 18, 2002, in the Iredell County Government
Center (South Wing Conference Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC.
Present: Chairman Sara Haire Tice
Vice Chairman Karen B. Ray
Tommy E. Bowles
Steve D. Johnson
R. Godfrey Williams
Staff Present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, Finance Director Susan Blumenstein,
Support Services Director Jim Vernon, Library Director Steve Messick, Environmental Health
Supervisor Kelly Sheeks, Solid Waste Director Ron Weatherman, Solid Waste Administrative
Manager Susan Cornell, Assistant Jail Supervisor Terry Beck, and Clerk to the Board Jean
Moore.
Guests Present: City of Statesville Mayor John Marshall, City Council Members
Paula Steele and Ron Matthews, and City of Statesville Manager Rob Hiles.
CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Tice.
PRESENTATION FROM THE ARCHITECT REGARDING THE NEW
IREDELL COUNTY LIBRARY: Earle Gaulden, with the architectural firm of Craig
Gaulden Davis in Greeenville, S.C., said he had visited the Meeting Street and Stockton
Street sites proposed by the city officials.
County Manager Mashburn gave the county's opinion on the positives and
negatives regarding the sites under consideration. These were:
ETN STREE
Pros
(Assumption that City of Statesville can deliver a "buildable" site)
• Pedestrian friendly
• Complements governmental complex providing state/federal/city/county services within 3 blocks
of the center of the city
• convenient to banking, shopping, churches, and other public facilities
• improves a blighted area of the city which is in the backyard of the county government center
• encourages downtown development/potential to increase tax base
• provides onsite parking of 130 spaces, and an additional 20, parking spaces within easy walking
distance (Note: The original proposed site on Eastside Dr. had 138 parking spaces, and the Tradd
Street site had only 115 spaces. The Tradd Street site, however, is in close proximity to some
adjoining parking, but is difficult to compile how many would be available for library use.)
• Maintain historical presence of library in downtown business district
Cons
(Assumption that City of Statesville can deliver a "buildable" site)
• Expansion opportunities limited without acquiring additional land, probably at a premium price;
site only 2.1 acres
• Approximately 36 Iredell County employees' parking spaces will be displaced, and even after
some shuffling of operations, a net of 16 spaces will be displaced. If library parking is utilized by
county employees, this decreases patron/library employee parking to 122.
• Existing county offices will have to be demolished (Recreation) with operations located to another
site. (This relocation has been anticipated for a couple of years, and no definite reuse of the rec
building had been identified.)
• Delays commencement of library construction; site preparation will be longer
• Less opportunity for open green space (lawn, islands, etc.)
• Removes rear exit to interior parking
• Will be disruptive to county operations during construction
• Over 81% of users reside more than 2 miles from site
• Tight staging area; could hamper construction, increasing cost