LAKEPORT >> The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday approved the use of a Community Block Grant after a public hearing. The money will be used to make Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements at the Carnegie Library.
According to Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveria, ADA improvement include, but are not limited to, removing architectural barriers that hinder accessibility, as well as installing a lift or elevator for access to the second floor and an ADA accessible bathroom. The library was completed in 1918.
“The amount is approximate because it depends on the amount of program income payments the City receives during the time period the 2014 CDBG Grant is open,” Silveria explained.
Currently, a total of $174,000 is grant money is on hand, with an additional $100,000 expected over the next 24 months.
The original estimate for renovations and improvements, which was provided in a feasibility study by San Francisco-based Garavaglia Architecture, totaled $250,000. The cost of ADA improvements is included in this amount, but not recently developed disrepair in the facilities ceiling. The problem was not discovered or did not exist at the time of the cost study.
The cost of to repair the ceiling is not known at this time.
The library was built as part of the Carnegie Library System, which has a total of 142 public libraries in California. By 1985, the facility had outgrown its original purpose. After closing, the building was used as a satellite laboratory for the University of California in Davis, it was also used for additional city offices. In 2008, the library was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
As for the library’s use after it is renovated, no final decision has been made.
A workshop to garner public feedback for potential uses for the facility is also tentatively planned after the city removes files it has been storing on the second floor, according to Shock. This would be the second such workshop, with the first being held in June of last year.
The Lakeport City Council was not involved with the first workshop.
Street improvement throughout the city will be made “if any additional unexpected funds are received or the Carnegie Library project cost is lower than anticipated,” Silveria said.
Improvements may include overlay, curb/gutter installation and sidewalk rehabilitation, Silveria added.
No members of the public offered comments during the hearing. The council unanimously approved the resolution with a 5-0 vote.
Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
