The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the $26.3 million project to build a new Manhattan Beach public library from the ground up.
In addition, the Board awarded the $18.4 million contract to design and build the facility to C.W. Driver, Inc.
The two-storied, 21,500-square-foot facility will be nearly twice the size of the current library, built in 1975, on Highland Avenue. It will include adult reading areas, a teen and children section as well as a 100-seat community meeting room.
Demolition of the existing library facility is expected to begin this July, and a grand opening is anticipated in April 2015.
Funds for this project come from Manhattan Beach residents’ property taxes and a $14.1 million county-issued bond.
In 2010, Manhattan Beach City Council approved the project to build a new, state-of-the-art library structure in its current place because the cost to demolish and reconstruct was almost equivalent to renovating the existing facility, according to a staff report.
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