News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:	Thursday, April 9, 1998
Contact:	Tom Brannan, Assistant City Manager, (703) 838-4300; Patrick O'Brien, Library Director, (703) 838-4558

Construction Set to Begin on Alexandria's New Central Library; Groundbreaking Ceremony Scheduled for Saturday, April 18

The Alexandria City Council and the Alexandria Library Board will break ground for the City's new Central Library at a ceremony scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 18, at the site of the new facility, Duke and North Picket Streets in Alexandria.



The 50,500-square-foot building will provide library users with state-of-the-art electronic information resources and will feature a 150-seat multi-purpose meeting room and a reading garden facing the Holmes Run Green Way. World-renowned architect Michael Graves of Princeton, N.J., designed the new library in association with local architect Ken Brown and the Alexandria architectural firm of Pierce, Goodwin, Alexander and Linville. The Jowett Company of Clinton, Md., will build the new central library, which is scheduled to be open in late 1999.



Joining Alexandria Mayor Kerry Donley and Members of City Council at the ground breaking ceremony will be City Manager Vola Lawson, Library Board Chairman Howard W. Smith, Jr. and members of the Library Board, and representatives of the Brookville-Seminary Valley Civic Association, which is making a major financial contribution to the Alexandria Library Foundation for the new facility.



The key features of the new $12.3 million library project include an expansive reference section; an adult collection area with twin pyramidal ceilings; a rotunda-like periodicals reading room; five gabled pavilions housing the entry hall, a children's collection, and meeting rooms; offices and other support spaces; an outdoor courtyard; a 175-space parking lot; and roadway access improvements. The dedication of the new library is scheduled for late 1999.