After years of planning and many months of construction, the new Grayslake Public Library adjacent to Central Park opened this week to a receptive crowd, officials said.
The library, which was originally scheduled to open Saturday, finally welcomed patrons Monday morning after several computer installation problems were ironed out, said administrative librarian Roberta Thomas.
Thomas said the new facility was able to open even though only 50 of the 136 new wooden chairs that were ordered had arrived and the study carrels had to be sent back because they were incorrectly designed.
Despite these problems, Thomas said, the patrons who showed up on the first day were impressed with what they saw. The best part was watching how pleased the patrons were, both children and adults, Thomas said.
The new $5.2 million library was funded through a $4.5 million bond referendum approved by library district voters in November 1993.
The referendum initially called for the library to be constructed in Central Park as park of a joint community center project with the Grayslake Park District. But those plans were dropped when friction arose between the library and park boards after the defeat of a Park District referendum proposal.
After citizens complained about an alternative site on Seymour Avenue in the downtown area, the library board chose a 2.7 acre parcel of land west of Illinois Highway 83.
