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Library, development plans before council

John Stroud
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado – City Council takes a formal look at plans for a new Glenwood Springs branch library and city parking structure at its regular meeting tonight, beginning at 6 p.m.

Also on the agenda:

• A resolution adopting a $1 fare for the Ride Glenwood city bus service, which is currently offered for free to riders.



• A continued public hearing for the 60-unit Glenwood Green low-income apartments development proposal on Wulfsohn Road at Glenwood Meadows. The hearing was continued from a Feb. 2 meeting, when city planning staff was asked to work with developers on plans for a public street access to the apartment complex and other issues.

• Plans for a new drive-through bank building, proposed by FirstBank Holding Co., at the former Glenwood Springs Post Independent office location at 2014 Grand Ave.



The $12 million shared Garfield County Public Library and Colorado Mountain College project calls for a 28,000-square-foot building at the southwest corner of Eighth and Cooper in downtown Glenwood Springs.

The library would be located on the 14,000-square-foot main floor, while CMC and the library propose to share the upstairs portion of the building.

A 65-space underground parking garage beneath the library building is to be reserved for CMC’s central services employees during business hours. It would be available to the public during evening and weekend hours.

In addition, city council is reviewing plans for a two-level, 151-space city parking structure at Ninth and Cooper. It is to be constructed at the same time as the library.

The dual projects are part of a larger downtown redevelopment effort involving the city, the library district, CMC and the Glenwood Springs Downtown Development Authority. Construction is slated to begin in April.

At a Jan. 24 Glenwood Springs Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, several downtown merchants expressed concerns about the temporary loss of public parking during the construction.

Project manager Scott Brown, of ARC Integrated Program Management, indicated at that meeting that the parking structure is to be completed by December of this year, while the library is to be finished by summer of 2013.

Brown said he plans to work with the city to communicate with business customers, visitors and downtown employees about where they can park in the interim. He is also working with CMC on a plan to accommodate their employees as well.

Available parking includes the 91-space city lot at 10th and School streets. The city also plans to reopen the parking lot on Seventh Street, next to the new wastewater lift station, in June. It will have 56 parking spaces, according to city officials.

Once completed, the new library and parking structure will result in a net gain of 112 parking spaces within the 800 and 900 blocks of Cooper Avenue, from 181 spaces currently to 293 spaces.

jstroud@postindependent.com


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