Reporter Rob Vardon at the Pt Loma – OB Monthly, published by the U-T, has some good news for OB and its new library. Vardon reported on July 7 that the OB Library expansion and renovation is just a step closer because of the $4.5 million in the state’s new budget for it.
The library’s plans are estimated to cost $8.5 million.
Plus there’s a $4 million request for federal funding Rep. Scott Peters (D-La Jolla) submitted to the House Appropriations Committee at the end of April. Vardon reports that the Appropriations Committee approved the project last week. An aide to Peters told him that the full House and Senate still need to vote on the funding, and that they expected that to happen “later this year.”
The library effort also was given an anonymous $3 million private donation last fall.
The expansion and renovation plans include:
- A remodel of the current library’s 5,095-square-foot;
- build a 4,205-square-foot extension
- a new community meeting room,
- a teen area,
- an outdoor gathering space,
- office space,
- an expanded book collection area,
- new restrooms,
- new landscaping
Vardon reported that the “state money was secured by state Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) — whose 39th District includes Ocean Beach — as part of the final 2022-23 budget signed June 30 by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The funds will be disbursed to the city of San Diego before the end of the year, according to Atkins’ press secretary, Cameron Sutherland.”
The Coastal Commission still needs to approve the coastal development permit to ensure compliance with the California Coastal Act.
Vardon:
The city library system will move forward with that process with the California Coastal Commission once it finishes gathering community input for the OB Library design, according to Jennifer McBride, senior public information officer for the city of San Diego. She said the results of that input will be presented in August and that “the city will have a better idea of the total project cost” once the design is chosen and a construction team is hired.
When the city presented the library expansion plan at an Ocean Beach Planning Board meeting in November, some who attended were unhappy with the level of community involvement.
Shannon Stoks, an architectural designer for the San Diego Engineering & Capital Projects Department’s in-house design team, said during the presentation that the city intended to return for another presentation once the coastal development permit process had begun.
But several residents asked for more opportunities for public input on the design before the city applied for the CDP.
The OB Library, at 4801 Santa Monica Ave., is open from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays and 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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