Oak Creek Mulls Concepts for City Hall, Library
Construction on a new library and city hall in the Drexel Town Square development is expected to commence next year.
As work continues to attract tenants to the Drexel Town Square project, which aims to create a new downtown for Oak Creek on the former Delphi site, officials on Tuesday presented concepts for another component of the development: a new city hall and library.
Architects are still designing the buildings, but on Tuesday presented three options to aldermen on how the facilities could be laid out. The concepts generally link the buildings in some way, both directly (a bridge-type structure and atrium being two possibilities), and indirectly (shared outdoor space).
Concepts also included a clock tower feature to make it visible from Drexel and Howell avenues, as well as underground parking for city vehicles.
"Very preliminary; we're just kind of going through the schematics studies and working through some concepts," said Steve Kuhnen of Bray Archtects, the firm designing the facilities.
Officials say they are now planning both buildings to be two stories. The library previously said they preferred a one-story building for efficiency purposes, but the site is apparently set up better for two-story buildings.
"Once we started actually thinking about the site and how everything would work together on the site, we realized a one-story library really wasn't going to work as well as a two-story," Library Director Jill Lininger said. "The library is perfectly fine with investigating a two-story. We have some ideas in mind of how we can go about mitigating the staff needs and making sure everything still works as efficiently as we originally thought it would be on a one-story building."
The library is expected to be 50,000 to 60,000 square feet, while city hall will be 20,000 to 25,000 square feet. The facilities are now 14,000 square feet and 16,000 square feet, respectively.
The library and city hall are slated to be built in the center of the development near the town square. Plans show apartments on the west end, a "Main Street" with shops leading to the town square in the middle, and restaurants and retail on the east side.
The Common Council next year will approve design plans for the city hall and library. Construction is also expected to commence in 2013.
The team of people working through the design phase of the project is focused on how to best serve residents, said Steve Chamberlin, the owner's representative for the city.
"There's very strong commitment and a good understanding of the importance of this being a public project," he said, "and the importance of it meeting the needs of the client, which is the public."
Kris Jenkins
2:17 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Even more mistakes, overspending and lack of true leadership. The buildings don't need to be that big - hell, they don't even need to be built. The idiots in charge wanted fancy new digs and bribed whoever it took to get them. Nobody will use the library in 5 years. Times change.
Drexel Town Square will be nothing but a city hall, library, a few of the same big box stores that we have a few miles away and lower-tier housing. What a great use of this immensely valuable space.
The sad thing is it doesn't matter when myself or any of the OC residents think. Those in charge will do what they want anyway. They want to make sure they take care of themselves and their "partners" (I won't call them what they really are - we'll leave that to the courts in a few years when the whole story is exposed...)
Resident of O.C. Paul
2:42 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Kris, I agree. If the city thinks it needs more room in the city hall they should consider adding UP (a second floor) or out. In adding a second story they may have to have a structural study done to see if it's viable, but adding a second story probably wouldn't be as expensive as a new city hall.
As far as the overall city hall, I've been in it, and all I think that it could use is a little TLC, sprucing up, maintenance and maybe a little remodel her and there. Otherwise it's in relatively decent shape.
Mike in OC
7:00 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
With everything going digital I dont see why a new library would have to be 4x larger than its current facility... double the space, fine, but 4x more is crazy.
Jill
9:43 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
I completely agree with all comments above. To have the mentality that 'if we build it they will come' is absolutely ridiculous!! We live in a digital world and there is no way a library that is almost always empty now needs to be 60,000 square feet! There is nothing wrong with renovating a building that already exists.
ICare
9:50 am on Friday, December 21, 2012
I am excited for the new building projects planned for this City. Our library is in dire need to be expanded and updated and I believe if you build it they will come to it--there is no desire now for me to go to our current library and enjoy my surroundings but I look forward to the day when I can. The City Hall is in poor repair in anticipation of the new building planned and I long for the day when I can proudly walk into a beautiful City Hall building to do my business. Embrace the changes and utilize it all that you can. This lovely community needs a good foundation and infrastructure and these are worth investing in.
Marie V
10:49 am on Friday, December 21, 2012
Coming from someone who actually uses the library I'm excited for the new facility. I currently use the new Greenfield and Franklin libraries more because they have study rooms and are setup to utilize technology better. They offer so many more services than just paperbacks. This is a valuable resource for the community that is available to everyone no matter your age or income. This will be money well spent
Mark Schaaf
11:38 am on Friday, December 21, 2012
One clarification pointed out to me was that the underground parking mentioned would be for city vehicles, not employees. Story updated to reflect that.
Dan Vitek
1:27 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
What ever happen to the plan to use the planentarium dome that was salavge from the old Delphi site??e Instead of a clock tower use the dome it will be fitting as a dunce cap for all the clueless aldermen