Designs for New Library to Go on Display

BURBANK —  Preliminary designs for Burbank’s newest library--including an amphitheater, fiber optics and windows that look out onto a park--will be on display Thursday night at Buena Vista Library.

Public comment will be taken on plans for the library to be built on the southeast corner of Buena Vista Street and Verdugo Avenue, diagonally across from the existing 8,075-square-foot, 52-year-old Buena Vista Library.

The new facility, designed for 28,000 square feet by architect Steve Finney, will also have a large “exciting and attractive” children’s area, said John Fuchs, library services director. It may even include images of Warner Bros. characters under a proposal that was to be considered Tuesday night by the Burbank City Council.

A total of $9 million has been budgeted to build the library and a park on the 5.4-acre parcel the city bought from the Burbank Unified School District for $8 million in 1998, said Rich Inga, deputy city manager.

Construction of the library, expected to take 1 1/2 years, will begin in March, with a simultaneous opening of the library and park in October 2002. The existing Buena Vista Library will remain open during construction.