New Library, Center to Use Recycled Items

Recycled plastic bottles, bamboo, old tires and bales of hay are some of the materials that will be used to construct a library branch and environmental-awareness center for Pacoima and Lake View Terrace.

Community members met Wednesday evening with architects and City Councilman Richard Alarcon to discuss the design of the $6.7-million project. Construction is to start next summer and be finished within three years. The library and center will be situated on a 1 1/2-acre site at Osborne Street and Foothill Boulevard, an area that spans Pacoima and Lake View Terrace.

“Our task was to design a self-sustaining building that doesn’t use new resources from nature,” said architect Henry Lenny.

Waste Management Inc., which operates the Bradley Landfill, was allowed to select Lenny as the architect because it contributed $350,000 for the project design, Alarcon said.

The landfill operator is losing money as the waste stream is reduced through recycling, he said, so it’s in the company’s interest to seek new markets for recycled products as an alternate source of revenue.

Recycling and environmental preservation have been the themes of the project from the start, Alarcon added, because seed money for the project was allocated from the Lopez Canyon Community Amenities Fund, a $1-million compensation given to Lake View Terrace because of its proximity to the now closed Lopez Canyon landfill.

While the environmental-awareness center will be a first for Los Angeles, the library will be the city’s 68th branch.