I went to the unveiling of the new Central Library Building on Tuesday and was very surprised.
For some reason, I have an image in my head of libraries being big impressive stone buildings - sort of cathedral like so I was initially a little put off by the design. As I watched the presentation and then toured the room with models and pictures, I found myself really growing to like the design and realizing how grand it might be - full of air and light with a really nice open central area connecting Nicollet and Hennepin. In general, I don't like the traditional glass walled boring box type structures seen on so many buildings. This design is different, however. It's got enough creativity and quirks to set it apart as a unique and elegant structure. I love the walk through mall area, the reading fireplace in the children's area, and the teen center as well as the exhibit areas and auditorium. I also like the cafe and bookstore. That's not to say that I don't have some concerns. The big flat roofs seem very under utilized. The northern roof had some plans for a telescope observation platform as well as another thing or two, but in general they were pretty much big, open spaces. I'd also question how good telescope viewing would be based on the level of downtown light pollution, but that's something else. I'd like to see green space on the roof - possibly a small park space to eat lunch, read, etc. As a weird idea, what about a community garden space that could be rented by nearby downtown residents? Another option might be more of a conservatory style space. During the nicer weather, it could be a pretty nice place to go have lunch. A little out of the pace of downtown and pretty close to work for a lot of folks. If there were some sort of greenhouse style enclosure to it, it would be a great place in the winter. I share some of the concerns about the glass - heat coming in during the summer, heat going out during the winter, light damage to books, etc. I forgot to check the plans for ground-floor public bathrooms, but they'd obviously be a good thing. Downtown REALLY needs 24 hour publicly accessible bathrooms. There's urine and feces behind my office building on a regular basis and it's pretty gross. A large concern was the lack of bicycle parking. Reviewing the plans, I saw some bicycle parking in the first garage level and none planned upstairs. There should definitely be some outdoor bike spots by the cafe as well as some lock spots and boxes by the bus stop. Something that would be really nice and somewhat unique is if the wide end of the walkway (the Nicollet side) had a "bike entrance" with a couple rows of bike lock on the inside of the "mall" section. It would require an intelligent entrance to prevent too much heat from going in and out as well as a drainage plan for rain and snow, but for people bicycling to the library (or the cafe/bookstore), it would be a really nice option for somewhat safer bike locks out of the snow and rain. I could be mistaken, but it seems to library oriented people tend to have a higher-than average bicycling population, so making it really bike friendly would be cool. As far as "green designs" go, I really hope that the decision makers will consider long term cost-benefits when considering the costs. A couple wind-turbines, active (or passive) solar collection on the roof, and other green design factors may cost a bit more at the outset, but they should help cover ongoing maintenance costs. Now, for an "outside the box" idea: public "pay per use" showers somewhere in the area... There are two types of people who might really get a use out of these. The first are people who run or bicycle commute and don't want to go into their job all sweaty but don't have showers at work. The second are the homeless. Public access computers and free-to-use books are something that will always draw those with little or no resources, and having showers available would be a nice service - especially for those trying to find a job (computerless sometimes use libraries to check workforce center job listings and there is a staffing building just up the street). The idea has some issues: Safety, Public sex or prostitution, Cleanliness, image, etc., but I'd guess that there is a way to address the concerns. - Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
