Public helping to design new NLV library branch

Lisa Snedeker

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1998 | 10:49 a.m.

While many valley residents tuned into watch Monday night football, Natalie and David Tyrrell spent the evening designing a new library for North Las Vegas.

The couple, along with their 7-year-old son Nathan, were among some 30 residents who turned out for the first of three "design charettes" scheduled this week at the North Las Vegas Library, 2300 Civic Center Drive.

Their ideas will be combined and refined by the Lucchesi Galati architect firm and presented to the public at 6 p.m. Friday in the library's Community Room.

"We live up in the Northwest, and it's very close to our house," Natalie Tyrrell said of the new North Las Vegas Branch Library to be located on Alexander Road west of Martin Luther King Boulevard. "We're excited about having a library so close."

David Tyrrell said he is interested in getting in on the ground floor of the library because of his son.

"I have a child in the community, and it is essential to any city to have a good public library," Tyrrell said.

Craig Galati, a representative for the architects, gave the four teams made up of residents, library staff, Friends of the Library members and city staff their design instructions.

"The goal for tonight is for us to come up with as many concepts as we can," he said.

Galati said his staff will spend today refining concepts and potential floor plans, which should be available by tonight when the second charrette is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Children are invited to give their input from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Galati said he was pleased with Monday night's turnout.

"It's harder to get people to come out on a good issue," he said.

The third charette, which invites community input, is from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday. All of the meetings are in the library's Community Room.

"Friday we are going to show you concepts and cost estimates," Galati told the group.

The new facility carries an estimated price tag of $6.5 million, which will be paid for in part from property taxes collected in areas of the city recently annexed from Clark County. The state Legislature in 1996 appropriated $350,000 for the planning and design of a second library for the city.

Galati, whose firm used community input in its design of the Laughlin Library, estimated the North Las Vegas branch library will be completed by fall 2000.

"Everything is on schedule," he said.