CLALLAM BAY – The North Olympic Library System is asking for public input on plans to expand the Clallam Bay branch during its monthly meeting Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the Clallam Bay Branch Library.
The board will review plans developed by architect Jerry Schlie, said Hal Enerson, NOLS administrative services director.
Clallam Bay Friends of the Library President Karolyn Burdick will also give an update on the project.
Comments will be taken online at www.nols.org/cb or by phone at 360-963-2414.
The plans include an expansion and upgrade to the Clallam Bay Library which is currently housed in a 1,200-square-foot building.
The primary project is the addition of a 2,300-square-foot west wing. As funds become available, an additional 600 square feet could be added, a press release from the system said.
The total cost of the expansion would be about $500,000.
In March, Enerson said that about $350,000 was in hand.
The Clallam Bay Friends of the Library began fundraising in 1999 and in 2004 received a donation of $100,000 from Lee Nutter, president and CEO of Rayonier Inc. and Clallam Bay High School alumnus.
Although Nutter gave the money anonymously, he later allowed his name to be released when he heard it could help fundraising efforts.
Nutter, 63, lives most of the year near the Jacksonville, Fla., headquarters of Rayonier, and summers in Seattle.
He made his donation, he said, to the community as much as to the library, saying he was a beneficiary of the education system and knows the need for the new library.
The NOLS board committed $215,000 to the project in 2005 and other donations have been received from other businesses and individuals throughout the Peninsula.
A grant request is also pending with the Paul Allen Family Foundation.
Enerson said he hoped for a 2008 groundbreaking on the project.
The Clallam Bay branch, he said in March, “has become a vital community center for the Clallam Bay-Sekiu-Neah Bay area.”
