Mariners project isn’t overdue
June Casagrande
The Mariners joint-use library project is moving ahead on time and on
budget and is expected to break ground next summer.
The City Council got an update at their meeting Tuesday on the
15,000-square-foot public library that will also serve as the school
library for Mariners Elementary students.
“It’s looking great,” City Councilman Don Webb said. “I’m really
excited about getting it going.”
Perhaps the best news of the library planning is that mature trees
now lining Irvine Boulevard at the project site will remain standing.
Their fate was in question as the city’s architect considered ways to
design the project. By increasing the stretch of land between the
street and the project’s parking lot, the trees can remain. This
increase will also shift the parking area and the building slightly
east from the spot first envisioned.
An ad-hoc committee to help design the library has selected a
two-toned exterior combining sand-colored plaster with slightly
lighter-colored concrete.
The nearly $5-million project is being funded with a combination
of state grant money and local donations. The library is known
officially as the Donna and John Crean Mariners Branch Library in
honor of the benefactors who helped the city meet its fund-raising
deadline with a $500,000 donation.
Some community members opposed the library out of fear that
combining the public library with the school facility could put
students in harm’s way. That opposition was defeated when proponents
emphasized their intent to keep the school and public areas separate.
The joint-use nature of the library was necessary to qualify for the
state grant money, which had been earmarked specifically for such
combination projects.
Construction is expected to take about a year, meaning the library
could open about two years from now.
* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She
may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at
june.casagrande@latimes.com.
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