Preliminary Library Design OKd by Panel

The Los Angeles Library Commission has approved the preliminary design for a new local branch building, and officials with the Cultural Commission will review the plan Thursday.

If Cultural Commission board members give their approval, designers will be on their way to the next stage of planning, said Peter Persic, a library system spokesman.

In the next phase, the plan will move from a schematic to a more refined description of the project, which also will require approval.

A third design also must be approved before contractors will be able to bid on the project and construction can start.

Preceding each of these phases, the community provides input,” Persic said.

For example, residents who attended a meeting last month called by Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon offered several suggestions for safety and comfort, many of which were incorporated into the preliminary plan.

Persic said it is difficult to tell how long the overall design process might take: “It really varies from project to project. Hopefully less than a year. It should be much shorter than that.”

Planners have said they hope to open the branch by June 2001.

The City Council has approved spending $300,000 in federal grant money to plan the library, which will stand at the same Van Nuys Boulevard location as the current branch. The new facility will be twice the size and will feature new computers and expanded hours.

The cost of construction--$4 million--will be on the November ballot as part of a $178.3-million bond measure for citywide library upgrades.