Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) will move forward with plans to renovate the Vogt family homestead into a library express after Washington state legislature approved the project’s reallocation of a $2 million state grant, according to an April 25 announcement.
The funding will be used to turn the library site, at 7948 Birch Bay Drive, into the Birch Bay Vogt Library Express, which will offer a small collection of library materials, computer and internet access, and other library programs while acting as a community gathering spot for meetings up to 40 people.
The $2 million grant will cover most of the costs of renovation, according to the press release, but local nonprofit Friends of Birch Bay Library must raise an additional $300,000 to fully fund the project. WCLS executive director Christine Perkins said it is standard procedure to have local community support partially fund such projects.
The state grant was originally intended to fund building a 7,600-square-foot public library on the former Vogt property that would have cost $6.5 million. However, Birch Bay voters twice narrowly rejected creating a library capital facility area that would have created a taxing district to pay for $4 million of the $6.5 million library project. Voters opposed the district in the November 2021 and February 2022 elections, the latter of which failed the supermajority by only 26 votes.
In June 2022, the WCLS Board of Trustees decided on a scope change and proposed a $2.5 million interior remodel of the building to create a library express to the state. The reallocation request was initially denied in December 2022, but the state reversed its decision in April following community member, library staff and state legislator outreach.
Perkins said WCLS staff was dancing a happy dance when they heard the project had been approved.
“We know that the Birch Bay community has been waiting a long time for a community library,” Perkins said. “We are grateful for their patience and persistence. And we are really grateful to our state legislators for supporting this project.”
Project expenses include property purchase, a new foundation, parking expansion, full interior renovation, roof repairs, improved weather-proof windows and exterior cladding, Americans with Disabilities Act and public safety upgrades, and archeological preservation.
Gary Vogt and his wife, Cindy Lou, live next door to his family home that they sold to WCLS to become a future library site. Vogt told WCLS that he couldn’t visit the Blaine library when he was young.
“Our vision for this project was to honor Birch Bay’s history and honor my grandparents Grover and Anna Vogt by opening this great home to the Birch Bay community and its visitors as a library,” Vogt said. “A library will be a great asset for this community.”
The community will have access to the first floor, porch of the home and the surrounding property. Staff workspaces and storage will be on the second floor.
This story was updated April 27 to correct the address of the library express. We regret the error.
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Crypticfeed
How does this happen without a vote? And the two results from the Birch Bay community voted against it. We do not all want this.
We can expect increase of homelessness in the area, as well as property tax to go up due to the library adding value to homes close by.
Thursday, April 27, 2023 Report this