Redondo Wins State Grant for New Library Building

Redondo Beach’s plans for a new, state-of-the-art public library moved a step closer to reality Tuesday, when the city was awarded a $10.7-million state grant for construction of a new library building next to City Hall.

Ed Hayduk of the Community Services Department, who wrote the proposal with Shari Petresky, library and media services director, said the grant from the California Library Construction and Renovation Board was among eight awarded among a field of 50 applicants.

The board cited Redondo Beach’s proposal for the extremity of the community’s need. The existing library, in Veteran’s Park, is 61 years old, far too small for the city’s needs and is currently closed for seismic retrofitting. Board members noted that it was “in possibly the worst condition of all the applicants.”

The new library--which will require about $3.5 million in matching funds from the city--will be a two-story building with underground parking for 205 cars, an automated collection system, conference rooms and a much-expanded children’s section, Hayduk said.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for early 1992, with completion by the spring of 1994, he said.

Meanwhile, the city continues to seek an interim library site. Suggestions include a plan to rent and rebuild the basement of the May Co. store in north Redondo Beach and a proposal to set up modular units for use as a temporary library next to the Main Library.

Council members have set the library question for further debate at their regular meeting May 7.