Library breaks ground on project

$4.7 million addition, renovation expected to take 18 months

WARREN -- People driving by the main branch of the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library next week will begin seeing construction crews at work as ground was broken Thursday for the $4.7 million addition and renovation project.

Library administrators and board of trustee members with shovels in hand gathered Thursday afternoon on the southwest corner of the property off Mahoning Avenue NW for an official ceremonial groundbreaking for the project.

Library Director James Wilkins said the project will begin next week and is expected to take 18 months to complete, putting its completion date in late summer 2022.

"We are expecting this project to be a 30- to 40-year investment for the city of Warren and Trumbull County. The library offers so much for people. This will be a good investment for everyone. This project has been many years in the making and will continue to serve the community for many, many years. It is so exciting to get things moving," Wilkins said.

He said the 14,800-square-foot, one-story addition will be constructed on the south side of the building, with the majority of the space going to the children's department and teen area to expand programming and resources. The project also will include increasing the number of meeting rooms from two to 11 with rooms that can accommodate from two to 120 people.

"There will be more meeting space, multipurpose room and tutoring rooms. The teen area will be four times the space that it is now. The children's area will be three times what it is now with a programming room and outside patio area. When we looked at what we had and what we needed, we did community surveys and asked what are people looking for and what did they want," Wilkins said.

Wilkins said the first floor of the current building also will undergo renovations, including the installation of new carpeting and shelving, overhead lighting and a fire suppression system.

The construction company for the project is VendRick Construction in Brookfield with project architects Baker, Bednar, Snyder and Associates of Howland. Wilkins said the company was selected from 21 bids.

"We are hoping that when we open the new addition, COVID-19 will be long gone," he said.

Board President Melissa Lattanzi said, "This is a new chapter for the Warren-Trumbull County Library."

She thanked the community for the support of the library levy and the project. A levy passed in 2019 is covering the project's costs through municipal bonds.

"We look forward to sharing this new space with the entire community. Remember the library is not just a home for books it is a home for all of you for online and in-person events," Lattanzi said.

Mayor Doug Franklin said city hall also will be undergoing improvements and other work this year.

"This is refreshing for me to look out the city hall windows and see this site remembering when the old building used to be here and where the new addition will be,” he said.

Franklin said he is glad to have the library as a neighbor.

The Warren Library was built in 1971 and has 58,029 square feet on two floors with an attached garage.