Geauga County Public Library officials appeared before the Chardon Planning Commission Feb. 24 to provide an update on the concept plan for a new branch and administrative building.
Geauga County Public Library officials appeared before the Chardon Planning Commission Feb. 24 to provide an update on the concept plan for a new branch and administrative building.
The library purchased vacant land at 345 Park Avenue in Chardon in fall 2024 for $1.2 million. The site spans roughly 24 acres.
“This site is giving us the opportunity to create a library that meets the needs of today and gives us some space for generations to come,” said GCPL Executive Director Kris Carroll. “I do want to acknowledge that for many years, the library administration and the library board worked diligently to explore every possibility to stay on the square. Ultimately, it simply wasn’t possible to make the necessary improvements to our facility within our footprint or with a partnership with one of our neighbors. However, we were very excited to be able to acquire this property within the city of Chardon, just blocks from the square, and we’re able to keep the library within the city.”
The new site will allow the branch to construct a larger building with improved accessibility, additional parking, expanded children’s space and enhanced technology resources, she added.
In 2017, voters approved a $24 million bond issue for GCPL to remodel and construct facilities, according to previous reporting. Some of that funding — which supported projects in Middlefield, Bainbridge and Thompson — was reserved for the Chardon branch, though it will not cover the full cost, Carroll has said.
Meagan Dutczak, practice leader for library design at Bostwick Design Partnership in Cleveland, presented preliminary site plans. She said the proposed building would total 33,000 square feet and include 125 parking spaces.
Emily Carr, a senior associate at Bostwick, said the branch would be located on the left side of the building, with administrative offices on the right.
Planning commission members expressed concerns about the building’s design and materials.
City Architect Dominic Durante said the proposal should incorporate higher-quality materials.
“I mean, I think this calls for some better materials,” Durante said. “The building is just a big rectangular shape. It has no real articulation of massing and shapes. It doesn’t have any residential massing at all. It’s like a big commercial building.”
Planning Commission Chair Andrew Blackley echoed those concerns.
“I think that’s extremely important right now it looks like it belongs in an industrial park,” Blackley said. “Frankly, I’ve seen more interesting office buildings in alpha park or beta drive or in other areas.”
He added, “We all want to use public money in the best way possible, but I think that the public will be profoundly disappointed in this building if you were to build it the way you’re proposing. (It’s) beyond plain vanilla.”
The current branch, at 110 E. Park Street in Chardon, was built 30 years ago and requires upgrades, according to a GCPL press release.
“By consolidating our administrative operations into the library’s new Chardon branch, we will eliminate the need for a separate facility and reduce overhead costs for routine maintenance, HVAC system updates and parking lot repairs,” the release said. “These types of expenses have risen sharply in recent years, and this move is a proactive step toward long-term savings and achieving our goal of fiscal responsibility.”
Last summer, Geauga County Commissioners signed a letter of intent to purchase the administration building, at 12701 Ravenwood Drive, for $3.2 million, with plans to convert it into the Geauga County Department on Aging’s Chardon Senior Center.
Bostwick must return to the planning commission to present the final development plan for approval.
