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This is an engineer's drawing of what the Valley Center Community Center in
Lions Park will look like.


New library becoming a reality
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: June 29, 2017

After decades of discussion, years of starts and stops, a new facility to house the Valley Center Public Library took a giant step toward becoming a reality this week.

The Valley Center City Council on June 27 accepted a bid of $2.196 million to build a community center in Lions Park that will be home to the library and include meeting rooms for the senior citizens club as well as public rental space.

It's been a long time coming.

"We're seeing some light," said council member Ben Anderson.

City and library officials will have a groundbreaking ceremony at 1 p.m. July 4 in the park.

Construction on the new building could start in July and it could be ready for occupation some time next year.

The winning bid was from Harmon Huffman Construction. It was about $700 lower than the next lowest bid from Vogts Construction.

The 13,400-square-foot building will replace the small community building in the southeast corner of the park, which will be razed.

The library has committed to contribute nearly $1.1 million toward the project. The library provided bank documents that showed it had about $906,000 of that amount available in cash. City Administrator Scott Hildebrand said he met with a representative of an anonymous donor who assured him that the donor will give an additional $100,000 toward the project plus pledged a $50,000 challenge donation to raise the remainder of the funds.

"This is a person who has a great love for Valley Center, great ties," Hildebrand said. "… They're not backing out."

Hildebrand asked council members to do what they could to encourage further donations to the library's fundraising group, Friends of the Library.

"We're quite close," he said.

Council member Dale Kerstetter asked Hildebrand what would happen if the library comes up short.

"I'm trying to think of a creative way of saying it's guaranteed," Hildebrand said. "… It's going to be there."

The base construction bid was $2.139 million, but the overall pricetag included $5,200 for a flagpole, $1,700 for window roller shades, $36,800 for an expanded parking lot and $14,000 for a building control system.

Harmon Huffman said it could complete the project in 300 days.

Harmon Huffman has experience with building libraries. It built the $5 million, 26,100-square-foot Mulvane Library in 2016.

In other business June 27, the council:

•Gave first-round approval to an ordinance amending the seat belt rules to reflect a state law that raises the fine from $10 to $30.

•Approved the extension of hours at Lions Park to accommodate pool events — a midnight swim on July 22 and a moonlight swim and movie on July 28 and Aug. 5.

•Met in executive session for 10 minutes to discuss personnel.

•Set a public hearing for 7 p.m. July 18 on the city's proposed 2018 budget.

Council member Al Hobson was not at the meeting.





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