Groundbreaking! The New Silver Spring Library!

I was thrilled to join County Executive Ike Leggett, Council President Nancy Floreen, Councilmembers Marc Elrich, George Leventhal and Valerie Ervin, and a large group of friends, neighbors, library advocates, business owners, community leaders, and County staff for today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new Silver Spring Library.

The new library will be located at the intersections of Wayne Avenue, Fenton Street, and Bonifant Street in downtown Silver Spring. The building is designed to create an open, inviting environment, with convenient public access. The library will be part of the mixed-use public facility and transit stop and will serve as a cultural landmark. Designed by The Lukmire Partnership, Inc., the project will be a Silver LEED building. In addition to the library that will occupy three floors, the building will also house a coffee bar and an art store, gallery, offices and classrooms for Pyramid Atlantic, a Silver Spring-based nonprofit dedicated to the creation and appreciation of handmade paper, printmaking, digital arts, and the art of the book. Plans call for the County’s Department of Health and Human Services to also have offices in the building. Large and small public meeting rooms would also occupy one floor. “Green” roofs will be located on the top level and at the entry pavilion roof that will be visible from the children’s floor.

The new library will include print and non-print collections for adults, children, and teens on separate floors, large and small meeting rooms, group study and/or tutor rooms, a computer lab and an early literacy area for parents and young children. The site will also serve as a light rail stop on the future Purple Line. A multi-story, mixed-income rental apartment building developed by a private contractor will be constructed on the Bonifant Street side of the site.

Site construction, including undergrounding and relocation of utility lines will begin immediately and take about 10 months.

For more information, visit the project website here.