WHAT COACHELLA IS REALLY LIKE!
Conceptual art of the future Coachella City Library submitted by Schneider Real Estate Associates from Redlands.(Photo: Courtesy of the City of Coachella)
Coachella City Council is moving forward with the design plans for a state-of-the-art library facility that officials hope will revitalize the downtown area.
Wednesday, council voted unanimously to move forward with collecting bids from developers who would be interested in designing and constructing the new library, planned for around 15,000 square feet in the 1500 block of Seventh St.
No plans have been made at this point for the current library building, located at 1538 Seventh St.
Although a concrete design has yet to be approved for the library project, city leaders are hoping to include educational areas for all ages as well as computer labs, performance areas and commercial room.
Conceptual art of the future Coachella City Library submitted by Grapevine Developments from Sherman Oaks.(Photo: Courtesy of the City of Coachella)
"It"s gotta be a game changer for thedowntown and bringing people into the downtown," Mayor Steven Hernandez said at a May 25 council meeting. "This isn"t just about building a library, it"s about building a community, about building a place where we can get some economic development there ... and that"s the goal, to bring some life into the downtown."
Council already heard two proposals from development companies Schneider Real Estate Associates of Redlands and Grapevine Developments of Sherman Oaks at its May 25 meeting, but determined at the time that the city hadn"t set specific enough design and funding parameters to compare the two.
Schneider Real Estate Associates had proposed a "Spanish-colonial" building to fit in with the citys goal of Pueblo Viejo, while Grapevine Developments designed a more "contemporary" facility.
"What is in these proposals are two very qualified firms that have a lot of public-private partnerships," City Manager David Garcia told council members at the time. "I"m convinced that each of them is qualified."
Conceptual art of the future Coachella City Library submitted by Schneider Real Estate Associates from Redlands.(Photo: Courtesy of the City of Coachella)
Council members agreed when they first heard the developers designs in May, that by accepting designs without more specific guidelines, they were most likely putting the cart before the horse. They asked staff members to bring a more comparative look at their options to Wednesdays meeting before they agreed to move forward with the bidding process.
Wednesday, discussion surrounding the library largely consisted of choosing a best practice for moving forward with the design and construction process, examining the most traditional method in which the city would design the building and then take it to bid for private companies and a method in which the city puts forth specifications and a private company works to design and build a library within the guidelines.
Council decided ultimately that the second option would be the best fit for the city, costing about 6 percent less than the first option and moving about 33 percent faster.
They invited both Schneider Real Estate and Grapevine Developments to resubmit their bids.
Hernandez said he was convinced by both the promised savings and the December 2017 deadline the city set when it first proposed the library.
The library is one of the biggest promises we made so thats very important we hit that deadline, he said.
Anna Rumer covers the Eastern Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun. She can be reached at (760) 285-5490, anna.rumer@desertsun.com or on Twitter @AnnaRumer.
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Source: http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/local/coachella/2016/06/08/coachella-explores-options-new-library/85618074/
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