A proposed new entryway and smaller size for the downtown library over the Cedar River are angering community residents.

The conceptual plans for the downtown library have been presented by the King County Library System, which include moving the main entry from the pedestrian bridge to near the parking lot.

The bridge would remain, but it would be suspended away from the library building, not allowing for direct access from the bridge into the library. The proposed space has also shrunk from some 22,000 square feet to 15,400 square-feet.

The KCLS project team will give a design presentation Tuesday, March 26, at the downtown library.

In a conference call with the Renton Reporter, KCLS staff responded to the community’s concerns about certain design elements.

Now KCLS officials are urging caution when talking about the design elements of the downtown library because they say it’s too early in the process. The project team is now in the schematic design phase, which means they actually have sketches of ideas. Those sketches reveal some drastic changes to the present design.

“When we say the design, we mean the schematic design of the library,” Julie Brand said. She is KCLS’ community relations and marketing director. “People keep using this word ‘design’ and we’re nowhere near the design phase.”

KCLS Library Director Bill Ptacek expressed eagerness to get feedback from the community and see how the project team might accommodate individuals’ concerns.

He recognizes the uniqueness of the original design of the library over the river.

“Our goal is to make this library function so future generations can say the same thing,” Ptacek said about community attachment to the building. “I don’t know that there will be another library built over a river in the U.S. We’ve got to get it as right as we can with the construction constraints that we’re dealing with.”

Those constraints have dictated some design decisions the project team has had to make, Ptacek said.

“We had no idea where the entrance was going to be, but we do know there are such things as ADA (American with Disabilities Act) requirements, operations issues and on top of that how do we do it in such a way that maximizes the space,” said Ptacek. “Where do the utilities come into the building? That dictates where the staff elements come into the building.”

The smaller building footprint is the result of issues with the current columns and crossbars.

“In order to make this building stay within budget, we have to use the columns and crossbraces that exist in the current building,” said Ptacek.

The caused the overall square footage to shrink to a smaller floor plan.

The internal operations and factors such as utilities forced the project team to relocate the main entry next to the parking lot, he said.

“In a sense we really don’t have a choice,” said Ptacek.

The proposed design has ignited a new debate between residents, who have been closely following the project’s progress and the project team.

Members of the citizens group Save the Renton Library Again! have regularly attended the library briefings and are reviewing project documents and work through requests for information.

They are skeptical KCLS and the City of Renton will build the library that citizens have asked for at the present location, they say. The group has about 25 members.

“I just think if people knew that they have not kept faith with us, they would be furious,” said Beth Asher, member of the citizens group.

Asher and other members are seeking multiple avenues to address their concerns. The group believes the community wants a redesigned library with at least the same square footage and the entrance where it’s presently located.

At the last library briefing in February, tension spilled over. Members of the public expressed frustration at the preliminary direction of certain design elements as they understood them.

Although some design elements are a given that the project team can’t do much about, there are still decisions to make about space planning, Ptacek said.

He said that in the past KCLS has received feedback from the community that’s caused them to go back to the architects to revise plans.

“We’re excited about it,” Ptacek said about moving forward. “We think that this has the chance of being that library for the next couple of generations.”

He did say that now they are a little over budget, but he thinks they can work with it. Ptacek wants to get the project to bid as soon as possible because construction costs are going up.

Ptacek said there is no formal document the design team has crafted yet, because the team is just now starting to conceptualize what the new downtown library will look like.