Construction of new a library gets under way

LA CRESCENTA — After about 10 years of plotting and fundraising by town and county officials, construction of a new $14.6-million library finally is set to begin in La Crescenta next week.

More than 70 people turned out for a sunset groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday to culminate a decade of planning, and to initiate a construction process that is expected to take about two years.

“This is a very historical day because after many, many years of frustration and wandering out in the desert looking for that holy spot … we have taken that dream and vision and made it a reality,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich said. Antonovich secured nearly $13 million in county funds for the project.

The new La Crescenta library, slated for 2801 Foothill Blvd., is a long-awaited replacement for the area’s existing county library branch on La Crescenta Avenue, said Elaine Silvestro, president of the Friends of the La Crescenta Library, a 27-year-old nonprofit organization that leads fundraising efforts for the library.

Built in 1970, the existing one-story library is about 4,000 square feet in size, Silvestro said. The new two-story building is slated to be more than 15,000 square feet in size, Antonovich said.

If an architect’s rendering on display on Thursday was any indication, the new structure should also prove to be an aesthetic upgrade, she said.

“I’m so excited to have a much larger building,” Silvestro said. “And it’s not going to be a concrete block. It’s a lot prettier than what we have now.”

The Historic Society of the Crescenta Valley, which is in the process of raising money to fund a decorative bronze medallion to be embedded in the library’s floor, also plans to contribute to the library’s look, said Stuart Byles, the group’s vice president.

A tentative design for the medallion shows historical figures from the Crescenta Valley — Jose Maria Verdugo, Benjamin Briggs and Tongva Indian leader Toypurina — and scenes from Crescenta Valley history.

The medallion is expected to be six feet in diameter, Byles said.

So far, the Crescenta Valley Town Council has donated $5,000 to the medallion and the Friends of the La Crescenta Library chipped in another $2,500. The council’s donation is the single largest gift the group has ever given to any cause, Council President Grace Andrus said.

Despite the community’s mounting anticipation of the new building, the area will be without a library for about two years. The existing library, which sits on property that will be used by the new building, is slated for demolition in September and the new library has a tentative opening date of September 2009, Antonovich said.

“It’s going to really impact the students mostly from Rosemont [Middle School] and Crescenta Valley [High School] who go there after school and use the reference materials,” Silvestro said. “That’s going to hit hard.”

Still, most people in attendance on Thursday did not expect to look back after construction begins.

“This pile of dirt is going to rise into a beautiful building,” said Crescenta Valley Town Councilwoman Danette Erickson.

“I have been looking at pictures and hearing stories for five years. Now I’m a believer.”