New Library Could Open in 8 to 24 Months : Public works: Lake View Terrace branch could be acquired, or built using fast-track system, officials say.

If all goes well, Lake View Terrace may get a new branch public library--perhaps on the patch of land where Rodney G. King was beaten four years ago--in half the time it usually takes to build such a facility, city officials said Wednesday.

At a City Council public works committee meeting in Van Nuys, Rodney K. Haraga, deputy city engineer in the Department of Public Works, told Councilman Richard Alarcon that it would take only 18 to 24 months to build a new library if the project is placed on a fast-track system. The city normally takes up to 4 1/2 years to build new branch libraries.

Among the sites suggested for the new library is the gritty spot at Foothill Boulevard and Osborne Street where police officers clubbed King in 1991. The library could be part of a larger Alarcon-proposed project called Peace Gardens, which could include, among other elements, a community banquet hall.

City officials are currently appraising the value of a 1 1/2-acre parcel of land at the site, but Alarcon said Wednesday that no final site has been chosen for the library. And “the banquet idea is merely conceptual,” he said. “We have not even formalized the concept of Peace Gardens.”

But building a new 12,500-square-foot library in Lake View Terrace is no mere concept, Alarcon added. More than $3 million in funds have been allocated for its construction through federal and city grants, and the Library Department already has designated Lake View Terrace as deserving of its own branch.

Haraga and Library Department officials said the library could be built faster using a so-called design-build approach, which Alarcon requested be examined. The design-build system would call for a pre-drawn, or “cookie cutter,” design for the new library, which would allow the city to expedite the sometimes lengthy bidding and permit-approval process.

Haraga outlined two different time frames and price ranges for building the library.

The first scenario would involve purchasing an existing building and retrofitting it. “That scheme, assuming there are no environmental problems with the property, would take 18 months from start to finish,” Haraga said. It would cost an estimated $3.7 million, he said.

The second scenario would involve building a new library from scratch. It would take 24 months to complete and cost an estimated $4.8 million.

Alarcon said that he has already contacted some contractors to gauge how fast the work could be done and how expensive it would be.

Alarcon directed library and public works department staff to work with the General Services Department and parks officials to try to acquire land for the library as soon as possible.