VENICE — Rob Culpepper, project manager for the contractor building the new William H. Jervey Jr. Venice Public Library, can walk the flat ground inside the four walls on site and point out exactly where everything will be once construction is complete.
“When you come in, you’ll see the Friends of the Library Bookstore in this area,” the Ajax Tandem Construction manager said shortly after walking through the arch that will be the main entrance. “Over on this side, there will be the coffee cafe.”
Farther inside, he points to a concentration of metal power and data boxes for the 135-person meeting room that’s sponsored by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
In the center of the open space, he points to where the main stacks for the adult book collection will be. Little green boxes mark the entry for more power and data boxes, which will eventually be accompanied by desks.
To the north, through a series of arches, the basic aspects of a fountain in the reading garden — sponsored by the city of Venice — are visible.
“You’ll see it in the background when you come in, if you’re looking for it,” Culpepper said.
On the job since ground was broken on the new $8.8 million library last Oct. 30, Culpepper doesn’t need a map to know where things will go.
“After you look at the plans a billion times, you pretty much memorize what’s going on in here,” he said.
The brief tour this week coincided with the joint meeting of the Sarasota County Commission and Venice City Council.
At that meeting, Sarabeth Kalajian, director of libraries and historical resources for Sarasota County, said residents will be invited to community meetings On May 1 from 10:30 a.m. to noon and 6 to 7:30 p.m. as part of a topping-off ceremony.
Kim Humphrey, project manager on the library for Sarasota County, said the work is on schedule.
“The soil remediation went really well; it wasn’t quite as bad as we were prepared for,” she said, referring to the clearing of debris that fostered the moisture and mold growth that plagued the original library, which was built in 1965 and closed after 51 years.
Contrary to urban legend, there didn’t appear to be an old swimming hole under the foundation of the old library.
“If there was, there wasn’t any evidence of it,” Humphrey said. Workers only found a lot of vegetative, organic materials, stumps and other parts of trees.
Now that the walls are up, the next step will be to pour the slab, Culpepper said.
Construction on the new library is anticipated to be completed by late fall.
Meanwhile, the Friends of the Venice Library is about three-quarters of the way through a $1 million fundraising campaign, said Camille Cline, who is spearheading the effort.
With a May 1 change-order deadline fast approaching, three key items that carry a naming opportunity are still available — the Compass Rose underneath the skylight for $100,000, lighting of the east parking lot for $76,000 and enhancing the Farley Literary Landmark for $73,000.
Walter Farley, author of the “Black Stallion” book series, along with his wife, Rosemary, were instrumental in founding the library.
The Literary Landmark, a feature of the old facility, will be part of the library; the enhancement includes a video component.
“People have been wonderful, but we still have a ways to go,” Cline said.
For most of February, the Friends worked events and hosted a table with corporate partner Fox Lea Farm — something that Cline said is a natural partnership, partly because of the equine connection and partly because Fox Lea owner Kimberly Aldrich-Farrell used to play on the beach in front of the Farleys’ home when she was a child.
{Venice Herald Tribune, posted March 2, 2018}
Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate
REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964
West Villages Realty LLC
19503 S West Villages Pkwy
Stes A2 & A11 (by Appt)
Venice, Florida 34293
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