Artist’s rendered of preferred design for the Leonardtown Library/Garvey Senior Center
Leonardtown, MD — The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County have gotten their first look at the concept plan for the proposed combined new library and senior center in Leonardtown. The proposal calls a 48.000-square-foot facility on the county-owned Hayden Farm property near the new Captain Walter Francis Duke Elementary School.
Melanie Hennigan, president of the Grimm and Parker architectural firm, presented three possible plans to the commissioners. Director of Public Works and Transportation George Erichsen reported that the third plan had the support of the Library Board of Trustees, Commission on Aging and Garvey Senior Activity Center Council.
The proposal shows shared spaces for the library and senior center, such as the main entrance, restrooms and meeting rooms as well as parking spaces and outside amenities such as a pond. The spaces for the library would take up about two-thirds of the total with the senior center the other third. The newly formed Garvey council has been advocating for more usable space. In their letter of support, they wrote,.” we do realize that the interior is still a work in progress and that walls, fire place, etc. can be rearranged to further maximize the square footage usage dedicated to the seniors at the nee Garvey Center.”
Hennigan emphasized that the facility as proposed could be easily expanded at a later date, although Erichsen said that would be sometime in the future outside the county’s six-year Capital Improvement Plan. Construction is slated to begin in Fiscal Year 2018.
Hennigan agreed with the Garvey Council that more work still needs to be done about specifics of what will be placed inside the building–that what was being presented was just a concept. But she said the preferred of the three options gives the greatest flexibility for expansion because additions would be to the rear and wouldn’t disturb the front facade of the building.
Commission Mike Hewitt [R – 2nd District] asked how much space was devoted to administration. Hennigan said space was set aside for both the library’s central office staff and the branch library staff, but both spaces were minimal and were a lot smaller than other shared facilities her firm has designed for other counties.
Hewitt also asked about whether a second floor was considered but was told the operations of both uses lent themselves to one floor. Hennigan said it also was cheaper in that space for stairways and elevators would have to be added onto the square footage sent aside for programs.
“It looks like it is coming together very well,” Erichsen told the commissioners. He expects the final design phase to commence July 1. “This is a great project. We are doing it the right way. I think,” he added.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com