The North Valley Public Library in Stevensville is seeking 2.5 acres of land that is within walking distance of downtown Stevensville and the schools in town for the purpose of building a new library.
The board engaged MMW, a Missoula architectural firm, in May 2022 to prepare a Preliminary Architecture Report (PAR). PARs determine the estimated cost of a new building and square footage.
The first step of the PAR is gathering information. MMW Architects has been working with the consulting firm ReThinking Libraries for data gathering and providing insight into library trends and buildings. A meeting with the library board and director took place on September 14, 2022 to discuss services and facility requirements of a new Stevensville library. A week afterwards the staff had a meeting with the consultant to solicit their opinions. Two public meetings took place on October 26, 2022. A survey was also given to the community. The data findings meeting was on January 25, 2023. The board heard the data analysis for the survey, the community and stakeholder engagement findings and the space needs assessment based upon those results.
MMW Architects presented a high-level cost estimate on March 7 to the Library board of D-directors for a 19,804-square-foot building including all the upgrades that the community, board, and staff requested. The estimated cost was much higher than the board had anticipated, coming in at a range of $11,412,477 to $15,324,080. Although everyone agreed that the square foot numbers seemed reasonable in today’s market, at the next regularly scheduled board meeting, the board decided that the first attempt was too costly and they needed to ask the architects to downsize to between 10,000 and 12,000 square feet. The board and director pared down the list of critical needs for a new facility in order to get additional cost savings.
MMW Architects said that they are going to try to have the adjusted version ready for the next meeting on April 14, 2023.
MMW Architects suggested that the board locate land before the completion of the PAR so the architects could do a more detailed and accurate cost analysis. The library board is currently exploring all land options that meet the criteria of being within a walkable and/or bike-able radius of downtown Stevensville and the Stevensville school buildings so the new library will be in a convenient location for the community.
If you would like a library built on your land and would consider selling, donating, or trading for the current library location at 208 Main Street, contact Victoria Howell, chair of the North Valley Library Board of Trustees, at 406-207-8793 or by email at victoriahowell53@gmail.com or Denise Ard, the library director, at denisea@northvalleylibrary.org. If you are interested in a legacy, there are naming opportunities available.