Library project to start next month by Joni Maxwell The Ranger Reporter

Construction of the 15,536-square-foot Northwest Library on the West Campus is expected to begin in November after the Amarillo City Commission issued bids on the facility last week.

"We received the plans about a week and a half ago," Bruce Cotgreave, director of the Amarillo College physical plant, said last week.

The bid date had been postponed as a result of deliberation over the floor plan between AC and Wilson Doche Architects.

"They had to wait on us to finish the plans," said Jim Wilson, a partner at WD Architects. "Sometimes it takes longer."

Members of the board of regents did not want to have a building adjacent to a street like Parcells Hall and Carter Fitness Center.

The disagreement with the city lengthened the process. Another factor was that general contractors interested in the undertaking first have to decide what materials to use and how to meet specifications at the lowest cost.

"It was supposed to start this month, but we should be in the library by next fall," said Karen Ruddy, director of the Amarillo College Library Network.

A new, single-floor library will be ready an estimated 300 days from groundbreaking.

The library will be east of the A building on the West Campus, replacing an empty lot.

The road between the open lot and the A building will be removed and redirected to the north. "We've been working on the plan since late spring," Wilson said. "Finalizing the design and getting it to the contractors."

The Northwest branch will have a classroom, children's reading section, audio-video and computer rooms, meeting room and a 2,416-square-foot adult reading area. The school will set aside 1,600 square feet that will be reserved for AC students.

The new library is a project of the Amarillo Public Library system, and funding is provided by the city.

In a bond election on Oct. 12, 1999, taxpayers voted by 60 percent to 40 percent to improve the Amarillo parks system and the public libraries.

"The Southwest Branch had completely outgrown itself and had totally inadequate parking," said Dr. Neil Sapper, a social sciences professor who aided in getting the bond approved.

"A number of people said we didn't have a snowball's chance because of increased taxes."

Sapper was president of Friends of the Amarillo Library board of directors during the time of the election.

A total of $6.9 million was awarded to build both the Southwest and Northwest library branches.

The city was considering the area surrounding the West Campus when Dr. Fred Williams, then AC president, made the offer to City Manager John Ward to use the extra space near the A building.

"It's a great location," said Donna Littlejohn, director of library services for the city.
"It serves the public needs and has good access for students," Littlejohn said.

"The city is providing an incredibly wonderful facility," Ruddy said.

The city commission will renew and update reference books annually for AC students.

Nursing student Amy Resendiz said the new library will be beneficial, but another student said he rarely uses a library.

"Most of my information comes out of my textbook," said emergency medicine major Ben Thomas. "I wouldn't really use the library."

Northwest Amarillo, which the planning department determined to be the second largest sector of the city, is the only quadrant without a library.

"AC was going to have to establish a library on West Campus somehow," Sapper said.

"The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools says you can't call it a campus without having a library."