Officials tried to get civic leaders on board for the new downtown library design.
Their efforts, though, may have come too late in the process.
The initial design unveiled weeks ago had all the appeal of a flat tire on a rainy night. The facade facing the major thoroughfare Greene Street looked too much like the back of the building -- which, for some reason, it is.
Worse yet, the black granite monolith on the library's Ellis Street entrance was less than inviting.
OK, it was downright ugly.
To their credit, library officials did get feedback recently and went back to the drawing board, with such revisions as trading the black granite for limestone. It was enough for Historic Preservation Commission Chairman Mark Lorah to sign off on the changes.
The thing is, despite the revolt among both historians and the forward-looking Augusta Tomorrow, library officials have resisted wholesale changes due to the late date: The $22 million project is already out for bid, and must, they say, continue on to get a $2 million state grant.
They insist that the community shouldn't feel ambushed, that the project has been in the works and in the open for up to five years.
Yet, the backlash should give them a hint that they failed utterly in their obligation to bring the community along in the process. They want to blame the community for feeling ambushed, but if the community feels that way, isn't that indeed what happened?
What makes the snafu all the more remarkable is that the architects who designed the library have extensive experience in such projects -- and have acknowledged that library projects elsewhere in the South have raised similar controversies.
Hello? Should that not have told the folks involved that Job No. 1 would be to get the community's buy-in from the get-go? If major stakeholders in the library project -- including Historic Augusta Inc. and Augusta Tomorrow -- have opposed the design at the 11th hour, that's a pretty good indication their concerns and input weren't sufficiently sought out beforehand.
Library officials now feel tremendous pressure to press on, for budgetary and tactical reasons. But in truth, any deadline can be moved, and costs have risen so much just in the past couple of months that the budget may be strained anyway -- and the badly needed switch to limestone and the other revisions may also affect the bottom line.
Yet, we will live with that building for decades. It would be folly to let momentary considerations rush us into a design that fails to honor the traditional architecture that makes Augusta a jewel on the Savannah. And a library, by its very nature, should be stately -- a visual message that something very important goes on inside it.
Let's scrap this wholly uninspiring faÃade and start over. It would be far better to get this right than to get it on schedule.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
Well stated Chronicle but really look who we are having to deal with when it comes to trying to restore Augusta to it's former glory..This is the coming from someone, namely myself, who believes that former glory goes way back beginning in the 1800s to the early 1900s certainly not the last few decades...Augusta has none absolutely no aspirations of restoring Augusta which is glaringly apparent in the design of this monstrosity to the cutting of trees to the tearing down of everything old, old as in early 1900 not 1960's and up...North Augusta has the right idea when it comes to design, charm coupled with old time southern hospitality.... Take a big hint "powers that be in" Augusta...
Getting the community involved is not as easy as one might think. I have been involved in many projects where committees were involved or other large groups were represented and noone had a word to say or time to be at a single meeting. They always have plenty of time to critize at the end.
If the building is well engineered and the structural integrity is sound, the facade can be just about anything and the community will come to accept it as "the library". No matter the changes, it'll still be a library. A sound building without leaks seems like the first priority. (is this attitude to practical?)
hey patriciathomas welcome back..:-)
Right on, Chronicle. It was the job of the library and their architects to bring the public and authorities on board on the front end. They let the horrid design out at the least second then were stunned when it wasn't rubber stamped. Hopefully the Commission will block funding until there is a design we can be proud of.
An attractive entrance from either street could have been planned that would be pleasing to the eye and much more convenient for the users of the library.
Save The Toaster!
I agree with PT (gasp!).
What's the big deal? For as long as Augusta-Richmond County continues to decline under democratic control, fewer and fewer people will be able to read. And the library will continue to grow as a homeless shelter. Put it over on the canal next to the new Salvation Army center.
gcap what are you talking about. Augusta has the highest median income outside of atlanta. And the largest black market in the state outside of atlanta. So i think we have enough middle class of every race to be okay. Why would the library grow as a homeless shelter. That makes no sense.
Congratulations to the editorial staff of The Chronicle,once again you're a day late and a dollar short.. This whole library controversy is pathetic. Build the building. As usual, The Chronicle jumps on the caboose instead of trying to drive the train. A newspaper with vision would have kept the public informed of something as important as the buidling of a new library, but I guess The Chronicle once again had to wait for someone else to speak up. Oh what brave Republicans!
Maybe this editorial will accomplish some good. I hope so and appreciate the Chronicle's stepping forward. No city sets out to be mediocre; it's usually the accumulation of poor choices made by well-meaning committees that result in a Macon or an Orangeburg.
Take the money, go to www.amazon.com, buy everybody in Augusta a Kindle E-Book, and give the money left over towards property tax relief. Screw big buildings for future generations to maintain and pay for. Isn't the importance of a library to get people reading, to get people informed, and give people access to reference resources? What does that have to do with a building? This is the 21st century, act like it. But, if you absolutely have to build another huge building to store a bunch of unread books, at least make it a class act. The architecture of the 50's an 60's was a wasteland and Augusta is full of it. By the way, I recommend the Kindle to everybody.
kindle e-book, huh? great if all you want to do is bathe your brain in the latest garbage being swilled by publishers to the semi-literate reading public. a library, though, has a few more than 130,000 titles available across a much broader spectrum. terrible suggestion, duhjudge, unless you want to keep anyone from learning anything of substance.
I am making a point. First, a building costing $20 million to hold books is ridiculous if that is all it does. Second, just because you build it does not mean they will come. Third, is the building of another library necessary when there is so much free and contemporary content available to EVERYBODY now. Fourth, when was the last time you visited the downtown library? Fifth, you understate the vast content available on a Kindle, available on-line, or found in a Barnes & Noble. However, what I also said is that if it is to be built, then build it with class and do it right.
Congatulations to Morris Miscommunications and the Augusta Illiterati; everyone is so concerned about how the exterior of the building will look. Do they just stare at exteriors? Obviouly they don't read. I was surprised that the library, according to the editorial, has moved to Ellis Street.