The City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to an expansion of the Arcadia Public Library that may add 15,000 square feet of space at a cost of about $3.5 million.
A new or improved public library could become a reality in the near future. The current library is bursting at the seams with increasing amounts of books, computer equipment and an increasing number of people using the 28-year-old library.
The City Council approved a recommendation to hire Glendale-based Charles Walton Associates to prepare a library building program. The proposal will cost between $50,000 and $55,000 and the new library will cost approximately $7 million.
The City Council approved an application for $9 million in state funds to build a new library. If the state awards the funds and the council accepts them, the city would have to contribute $7 million toward the new library.
In an informal, long-range planning session, City Council members made a new library and police station two of their top priorities. Last month, the council approves spending $55,000 to hire a consultant, to be chosen at the June 19th meeting, to draw up plans for a new library to replace the overcrowded library.
James Domney, 49, is leaving his position as City Librarian after 11 years in this position and 18 years with the library. Kent Ross, 45, who started at the library at about the same time as Domney, was recently appointed as the new City Librarian.
Bea Wyant Chute of Arcadia was among 48 delegates from California to attend the 2nd White House Conference on Library and Information Services recently in Washington, D. C. "Making most of library network: delegate Chute says support is key to better education" by Shelia Thompson.
Mary Young, the only woman in Arcadia's history to serve 2 terms as mayor and only the second on the city council, was unanimously elected as mayor while Charles Gilb was elected mayor pro-tem by the newly formed city council.
The City Council passed a resolution supporting the Arcadia Coalition for Education, a group of educators and community members demanding more state money for schools.
City Council recently approved a five-year $34.6 million capital improvement program that will include some refurbishing of City Hall and library facilities, along with a new fire department and preparations for a new police facility.
City Finance Director Alan C. Murphy died of cancer at 34 - just two weeks after receiving a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting and an award for Financial Reporting Achievement by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). Photo
Vons Market, which operates 328 grocery stores in Southern California, has moved its corporate headquarters from El Monte to Michillinda Avenue, between Sunset Boulevard and Huntington Drive. The 240,000 square foot building, a former May Co. store that closed in January 1989, will house 950 Vons employees.
Bea Chute of Arcadia was among those who traveled to Sacramento as part of her role as Library Supporter Delegate to the White House Conference on Library and Information Services. "School libraries should be an Arcadia priority."