The Bellevue City County reviewed plans Monday for the construction of a 3-level parking garage for the downtown Bellevue Regional Library.
The King County Library System plans to build the new garage to replace an 80-stall surface parking lot. When combined with parking currently available under the library, the garage will add 163 stalls, bringing the total from 199 to 362, according to a press statement.
This week, library and city staff discussed ways to minimize impacts on library patrons, neighbors, and users of the nearby Ashwood Park. Construction is expected to run from September 2011 through September 2012.
The library, located at 1111 110th Ave. NE, averages about 68,000 visitors per month.
Tags: Bellevue Library
Seems like a waste of money to me, unless they’re planning to charge for parking. Lots of parking in the area already.
I am not a frequenter of the library but I rarely see it being 100% full on the weekends… they probably have to spend tens of millions just to add 163 stalls.
We take our dogs to the adjacent park and occasionally we’ve had to circle a few times in the parking lot to find a spot. But that said, I agree that this is a very short term problem. Longer term… with books going digital, I doubt we will have libraries – physical building that is – around by 2020.
LOL….I love the comments here.
Bellevue population will triple by 2020. The current parking arrangement is also meant to supply parking to a field that is often used by youth sports teams’ programs.
Since 2005 almost every block near the library field has been developed into mixed use buildings and the new businesses of those buildings demand, and get their way, when it comes to parking enforcement (e.g. for customer use only) which minimizes options for users of the field and residents wishing to use the library.
Remember, not everyone works makes enough money to buy Nooks or eReaders, so the expansion of a library (i.e. the parking structure) is a great idea to maximize use of a facility without remodeling the facility itself.
I lived across from the library for years and feel that more parking spaces would be a great benefit for the library. The current parking is very crowded and I’ve watched plenty of near misses among vehicles trying to park or maneuver around the current configuration.
@ CJ- Waste of money? There should be more libraries!!
@ EnataiMan – I’ll take that bet (e.g. no books by 2020)!:)
@Sam – no problem with the library, the waste of money is the parking lot. Spend the money on increasing the size of the library, not temporary storage for gigantic pieces of metal.
I feel like adding this parking structure will cause a lot of disturbance. How about building the parking lot on Ashwood Park and converting the parking lot into a grassy area?
@dybd- think that is a great idea, they should build underground parking and still keep the grass field on top, great compromise.
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