Main branch library to close for five weeks
Closure the final step in the year-long renovation
Portland Public Library's Monument Square branch will close later this month as staff and construction crews conduct a five-week wind-down for a year-long, $7.3 million renovation.
Library officials said Thursday the main branch would be closed Feb. 28 through April 5 while staff move and unpack books. Meanwhile, workers will be putting finishing touches on the 29,000-square-foot main floor that closed when construction last March.
"We basically need the entire period there, that month to five weeks, to reinstall new technology and unpack furniture and shelving on that main level," said Steve Podgajny, director of the Portland Public Library system, on Thursday.
The closing, like one last March where books were packed up and hauled off to storage, was not unexpected. "We knew we were going to have to do something," said library spokesperson Heather Tiffany, "we just didn't know the dates and all that stuff."
None of the other library branches will be effected by the changes at Monument Square. Tiffany said inter-library loans and other services will remain but books stored at the main branch won't be available during the closure.
For the past 10 months, library operations have been centered in the first floor as construction crews worked upstairs. Although new books and periodicals remained in the temporary space, about 90 percent of library stacks were stored at an off-site "annex."
During that time, the main floor was gutted to make way for new furniture, new layout and a lot more space. The front of the building has been extended to the sidewalk and a glass facade was built upon the 1970s-era architecture.
The plan also calls for revamped interior spaces like the Rines Auditorium and a host of green-themed touches, including energy-efficient boilers and the use of a "solar chimney" to heat parts of the building.
Down the road, officials hope to raise private funds for a massive "urban screen" affixed to the front facade as well as a green roof. Podgajny said these efforts go "alongside the (two planned renovation) phases but are not critical to functionality."
Indeed, once funding is secured, a second renovation phase will tackle the first floor and upper floors left untouched during this phase of the project.
Despite what he described as "minor hiccups" during the final stretch of this project phase, Podgajny said he's pleased with how things look thus far.
"In terms of the overall effect of the design, and the potential for transformation, I think we've got it right," he said. "It looks great to me and it feels good and I imagine us working within those spaces and imagine users coming in and experiencing the library in an entirely different way.
Once the library does re-open on April 6, Tiffany said a number of events are planned to reintroduce residents to the space.
