The Aurora Public Library is set to embark on an $11.3 million renovation of the Eola Road branch library.
Michaela Haberkern, Aurora Public Library executive director, said recently the Library Board is expected to approve the bid for the renovation at its Oct. 23 meeting.
That could mean work on the Eola Road renovation project could begin in November.
The board in August 2021 hired Chicago-based Studio GC to design the renovation after interviewing five firms as far back as March 2020.
The project was put on hold during the coronavirus pandemic, as was another plan to renovate the West Branch that is in the Washington Middle School building on Constitution Avenue in Aurora.
But Haberkern said the plan is full steam ahead for both renovations now. The West Branch planning, which also will be done by Studio GC, will be next, after the Eola Road project begins.
Haberkern said the Eola Road project was chosen to go first because it is the busiest property the Aurora Library District operates – even busier than the main Santori Library downtown.
“More than half our business goes there,” she said.
Both branches were built in the 1990s and have had little done to them since then, although there was a little work done at the Eola branch in 2003.
The current Eola building has a high tin ceiling that makes the building noisy, Haberkern said, so baffles throughout the ceiling will be part of the renovations.
The building also is divided down the middle by a hallway, and has a long, space-taking stairway to the second floor. Both will be gone with the new plan.
“There is a lot of wasted space there,” she said.
The first phase of the renovation will include constructing two additions to the building, one on the east side that will include a meeting room for 150 people, and the other on the west side, that will allow for more children’s programming.
The renovation will include more study rooms on both floors but mostly on the second floor, and a quiet reading room and an outdoor reading terrace, both on the second floor.
The expanded children’s space will include a quiet space for kids.
Haberkern said the additions, and half of the renovation, is planned to take about four months, at which time half the library space will be open. Then, that space will be opened while the other half is renovated.
“We’re going to try to stay open as much as possible,” she said. “We’re going to do all we can to have access to the library.”
The renovations were designed after Studio GC held focus groups, held meetings, and did surveys of library clientele to see what they wanted. Haberken said the input showed people wanted more space for kids, better programming space, better access to technology and an updated and refreshed look.
The Library Board passed a $13 million bond to pay for the $11.3 million cost of the Eola renovation. Money is already held in reserve for the West Branch work, which is smaller than the Eola Road work.
“West is less complex – the space is all on one floor – but we’re going to do it right,” Haberkern said.
Haberkern stressed that the approach to each renovation is the same as it would be for any library.
“We call them branches, but, really, they are full-service libraries,” she said.
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