Learn more about the future main library!

We have a display up at the current main library (242 W. Main St., Ville Platte) showing the location, the interior layout, and the front, rear, and sides of the future building.  It will be located at the site of the former Doctor’s Hospital, across from Citizens Bank, Mikey’s Donuts,  and a former gas station.

The new library has been designed to be SAFE:

S—Secure and Supportive for the whole parish

A—Attractive, Accessible, Adaptable, and Affordable

F—Flexible and Functional

E—Exciting, Efficient, and Educational

The building’s roofline is partly a butterfly roof, which allows for greater ability to utilize space.  The open interior design will make the building more adaptable to new technologies and allow for greater security.  It also will allow enough height at the sides of the building to allow for future expansion.  This roof has been recently used in some libraries as they need greater space flexibility for future needs.  A notable recent example (2010) is the Newburg Branch Library in Louisville, KY.  It has 8,300+ sq. ft. and was built for $1.9 million.  This library, which can be viewed on its webpage and is also discussed in a Designer Forum here, was awarded a New Landmark Award by the Louisville Historical League.  We look forward to the new Evangeline Parish Main Library/Administrative Headquarters becoming a future landmark for Ville Platte and for our whole parish.

We also salute Landreneau and Associates, the Library Board/Police Jury’s professional of record for this project, and the firm’s consultant architecture group, Ardoin Architecture.  Starting from an initial plan that had called for 7,000 sq. ft. back in April 2010, they have managed to evolve an 8,500 sq. ft. building at the original projected cost of a much smaller building. (Library Board minutes April 27, 2010: estimated project 7,000 sq. ft. at $175 per sq. ft., $1,525,000; Contract awarded July 2012: 8,500 sq. ft. plus courtyard, $1,524,000).  This outcome would not have been possible without extensive effort by Landreneau and Associates and Ardoin Architecture and without the innovation used in designing the building’s interior and its exterior to both meet current needs and future ones.

We also wish to thank the 120 people who participated in a survey of library exterior preferences in October and November 2008, when the library board was first preparing for this project.  Although the survey results (based on 39 photos of existing libraries, plus a local drawing, plus opportunities for other suggestions) showed no consensus for any one style, there were many interior requests made in the survey that have been addressed in this final design.  The survey was presented at Rotary, Friends of the Library, Chamber of Commerce, Family Book and Culture Fest in the Civic Center, and at the main library, with drawing prizes offered to encourage participation.  We are very grateful to the 120 participants for their feedback.  We are also grateful to members of the public who have attended Library Board meetings and/or Friends of the Library meetings, asked questions and given input as this project has gone forward. 

Many meetings have occurred since the Library’s first open forum on a new library back on October 6, 2003!  All who have attended meetings and given input in the over eight years since that first start are deeply appreciated.  We may not all agree, but we deeply respect your input and your dedication to making your community a better place for future generations.

Finally, a note of gratitude to the late Bill Guidry and the late Becky Lafleur, who both served so well on the Library Board and believed in the dream of a new library to benefit Ville Platte and the whole parish.  The Library misses you and honors all that you did to help make this possible.