by Carey King
Chairman Joe Rossano broke the tie after the Joint Library Task
Force debated long and hard Nov. 25 over which architectural and
consulting firm should conduct a feasibility study for the proposed
joint library for Jackson County and Southwestern Community College.
Later that day, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners approved
the task force's selection, St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Harvard Jolly
Clees Toppe Architects, who will do the work for $40,000. (See related
story on page 1A.)
Eight firms initially competed to complete the study. The task force
selected two - Harvard Jolly and Charlotte-based Moseley, Wilkins
and Wood - for further consideration.
During an hour-long presentation, Harvard Jolly's executive vice
president Jonathan Toppe and senior vice president Ward Friszolowski
said their 80-person firm has more than 100 public and academic
library projects completed or under way.
Three of those libraries will be used as models for the Jackson
County plan, including the joint-use Seminole County (Fla.) Community
Library the firm completed in August.
Toppe also offered to gather advice from a panel of joint-use experts
from the firm's past library projects.
"This will not be a building project, but a planning and needs
assessment project. A whole number of issues will come together,"
Toppe said, adding that the firm plans to conduct a series of focus
groups to determine the wishes of area residents.
"Our approach is to have open meetings with those who represent
varied interests around town. We could have a morning meeting for
retirees, a noon meeting for business people, an afternoon meeting
for teens and an evening session for those in the working world,"
said Ruth O'Donnell, a library consultant who will work with Harvard
Jolly on the project.
O'Donnell's expertise was a strong selling point for the firm, as
she chairs a committee on public library standards, is involved
with the public library association in Florida, and is familiar
with North Carolina library standards due to work completed in Chapel
Hill.
The focus group meetings will be by invitation only, Rossano later
said, but the firm will also create a Web site on which all community
members can give input.
"With these Internet communication tools, everybody always
knows what's going on," Toppe said.
"We will lay out a construction schedule for you and a budget.
We want to program a building for you that you can build,"
Toppe said.
Representatives of the second firm, Moseley, Wilkins and Wood, said
they focused mostly on education and justice work, and indicated
that they had not had as much experience as Harvard Jolly with joint-use
libraries.
Harvard Jolly initially asked for $50,000 to complete the project
- the entire budget allotted to the task force by county commissioners.
Moseley, Wilkins and Wood said they could complete the work for
$15,000 to $20,000.
After talks with Harvard Jolly, Rossano negotiated the price down
to $40,000 by offering to have Jackson County and SCC librarians
complete some of the focus group work.
O'Donnell alone charges $15,000, Rossano said.
In the final agreement, Harvard Jolly agreed to complete the feasibility
study by mid-March. Firm representatives will make three site visits
to Jackson County and two conference calls.
After considering the results, the task force will make its recommendation
concerning the joint library to county commissioners.
"To have someone come in cold and clean and have no real opinion
can help," Toppe said of the divisive nature of the library
issue in Jackson County.
O'Donnell said that there had been opposition in other communities
where she worked on joint-use libraries.
"The concerns here are similar to concerns everywhere. Education
made a real difference in those concerns," she said.
"Integration is logical to do. It saves money. It's a win-win
across the board," said Toppe. |
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