LAKE VIEW TERRACE : Panel Supports Plans for Library

A Los Angeles city panel has backed plans for the long-awaited construction of a branch library in Lake View Terrace and launched an effort to identify funding and a site for the proposed facility.

Members of the Board of Library Commissioners on Monday said they wanted to move quickly to build the branch library that Lake View Terrace residents have been requesting for years.

“We need to pursue it aggressively,” said Bob Reagan, library spokesman. Reagan said Commission Vice President Roberta Weintraub will meet with other city officials to hasten construction of the library.

A library department report says a minimum of 27,000 square feet of land is needed to build a 10,500-square-foot library that proponents say should be a “state-of-the-art” facility that can also be used for community meetings.

Library officials estimate it could cost $3.7 million to buy the land and design and build the library.

Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the Lake View Terrace community, has already persuaded the City Council to set aside $1 million for the new library from a $5-million trust fund created to benefit the communities near the Lopez Canyon Landfill.

In addition, a private developer, American Housing Construction Inc., has offered to donate a 15,000-square-foot parcel on Foothill Boulevard near Terra Bella Street to build the library as part of an 88-unit condominium development called “Library Village.”

Reagan said the land offered by American Housing may be too small for the project and that the city is not going to limit its review of potential library sites to the donated parcel.