The Great Falls Public Library board voted during their March 26 meeting to award a contract to Cushing Terrell Architects for the design of the library remodel.
The contract for up to $873,158 will next go to the City Commission for final review.
The Great Falls Public Library Foundation, a private non-profit established to financially support the public library, is funding the design.
The library staff, board and foundation spent most of 2022 developing a library master plan that would help staff “design the future of public library service for Great Falls and Cascade County. A master plan helps communities create a vision of what they want to look like in the future. It is about making the connection between buildings, services, and community needs,” according to the library at the time.
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Commissioners approved a $68,000 contract to MMW Architects for the library master plan and the project was funded by the library foundation.
The master plan included an online survey, focus groups and multiple public meetings.
In September 2022, the library board approved the master plan, which calls for a major remodel of the entire library.
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The city issued a request for proposals, as required by city policies and state law, in the fall.
The city received three proposals that were reviewed and scored by a selection committee consisting of two library board members, a city engineer, two library staff members and two library foundation board members.
The committee selected Cushing Terrell as the top scoring firm and spent the last two months developing a professional services agreement and scope of work.
The library staff report didn’t indicate which other companies bid on the project.
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The remodel project will not be funded out of the library’s operational budget, according to library staff.
The library currently holds $117,000 in library funds designated to the project.
Those funds include $92,000 of foundation funds previously approved for an automatic material handler in 2021. Staff determined that project should wait until the master plan process was complete rather than install that equipment and remodel part of the circulation area and then have to potentially redo it once the master plan was complete.
The library foundation approved reallocating those funds toward the remodel in 2023.
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Susie McIntyre, library director, said during the March 26 board meeting that fund also includes a $25,000 donation made to the library toward the remodel project.
As Cushing Terrell submits invoices, the library will use those existing funds then request dedicated funds from the foundation as needed, according the library.
The library is funded primarily through the city, but also receives funding from Cascade County and the Montana State Library.
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The design work will help the library and foundation fundraise for the remodel and accessibility improvements can qualify for federal Community Development Block Grant funds through the the city.
The board voted 4-1 with Noelle Johnson dissenting but she didn’t provide her reasoning for voting against the contract during the meeting.
