Patience, persistence, luck and the hard work of many people over several years have brought the dream of a new branch library in Felton to fruition. But there’s more than just a new library – the project will include a Nature Discovery Park in the wooded areas and around Bull Creek next to the new library that will be an outdoor environmental education center designed mostly for children. All this is scheduled to break ground late this summer.
“It has been many years putting the pieces together, and being lucky, but now we have a library and a park, and that wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t patient,” said Nancy Gerdt, Chair of Felton Friends of the Library.
Gerdt, a Felton resident for more than 30 years, served as a citizen representative on the County-wide Library Joint Powers Board for two, four-year terms until 2014, and has been working on the Felton library project from its inception to this point of almost ready to break ground.
Originally formed in 2005, Felton Friends of the Library (FFL) came together after a successful, grass roots campaign to fight the proposed closure of the Felton branch library. Since then, the FFL worked as a key organizer for the successful Measure S bond measure that raised $67 million for the county-wide library system, including $10 million earmarked for a brand new branch library in Felton. Measure S was passed with 70 percent voter approval in 2016.
One year prior, in 2015, continuing the legacy of generosity of Felton residents for a branch library, the Verutti family formally donated the two-acre site next to the Felton Post Office on Gushee Street for the new library. According to the local architect of the library, Teall Messer, the Verutti family made the offer to donate the property back in 2002, but the library district was reluctant to accept it without some certainty that funding would eventually become available.
Messer produced the first plans for the 9,600 square foot building in 2009. “I wanted the building to fit the Felton feeling, and there’s a definite feeling to Felton,” Messer said. The original plans are now facing serious funding constraints due to accelerating construction costs, which have been increasing at least by 10 percent per year, according to Messer.
“It’s wonderful for an architect to work with such community support, and that sustained community support, particularly through the Felton Friends of the Library, has brought about the Nature Discovery park next to the library,” Messer said.
Gerdt emphasizes that it has truly been a collaborative effort with several local and county agencies that moved the library and park projects forward. The library system would not take on a parks project, and the cooperation of the County Department of Parks, Open Space and Cultural Services as well as the San Lorenzo Valley Water District were critical to the development of the park, as well as the unwavering support of 5th District Supervisor Bruce McPherson, according to Gerdt.
County Park Planner Will Fourt was the lead in putting together a $395,000 grant application to the California State Department of Parks and Recreation for the Nature Discover Park. The grant application was strengthened by the donation of an easement from the San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD), which operates a water treatment facility adjacent to the property. County parks, the county library district, the SLVWD and the FFL are all anxiously waiting an announcement from the State Department of Parks about the grant award, which is expected within the next few weeks, according to Fourt.
“It’s a great site for environmental education on water supply and watershed management issues, with Bull Creek running through the property,” Fourt said. The total cost of the park is estimated in the neighborhood of $600,000, and the FFL is currently engaged in fund raising campaigns to come up with the estimated $200,000 balance, as well defending the amenities in the library building that are threatened by rising construction costs.
A community meeting is scheduled on June 14 at 6:00 pm in the Felton Community Hall to explain the proposed plans for the Nature Discovery Center, which will be led in part by Base Landscape Architecture, a firm hired by the county to design the park. One of the many inter-active, educational park designs in the portfolio of Base Landscape Architecture is the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County.
Gerdt makes clear the new branch library in Felton, as well as the Nature Discovery Park, is critical to the education, safety and availability of library programming services, including help with homework and tutoring that will be available to the students of the San Lorenzo Valley School District in the new library. With the San Lorenzo Valley elementary, middle and high school located about one mile up Highway 9 from the library and park site, the site is ideally suited for branch library and environmental education programs, according to Gerdt.
“The whole project- both library and the park- just shows the generosity of people who live in a place they love. And we all love the free, public library as an institution that serves everybody,” said Gerdt.
