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South Pasadena launches site‑plan process for Library Park campus; no construction funding yet
Summary
City library director outlined a site‑plan study to assess needs, shared spaces and accessibility at Library Park; public survey open through May and a site plan is expected to go to City Council in October, but no construction funding has been identified.
Kathy Billings, director of the South Pasadena Public Library, told the Design Review Board on May 1 that the city has opened a site‑plan study to explore rebuilding or reconfiguring facilities on the Library Park campus.
“Site plan is not architectural renderings. It’s really about assessing the needs and then associating those needs with square footage and then looking at how within the constraints of the site that we have…what could we do to meet those needs on that site,” Billings said.
The project launched publicly March 17, and an online community survey has been open since then; Billings said outreach at the Farmers Market, city events and community workshops has been part of a first round of engagement that will wrap up in May. The consultant team will combine survey results and technical studies and return with conceptual options in summer, with a site plan expected to be presented to the City Council in October.
Billings emphasized the study is an early planning step, not a funding commitment. “There’s at this time no funding to build a new building. So this is really the first step in a fairly long process,” she said. She said the site plan will help demonstrate community interest when city officials and potential funders are asked to support construction.
The needs assessment will examine shared uses between the library and community services, accessibility and deferred maintenance. Billings said the existing non‑historic portions of the campus were built in 1982, with a 1991 addition to the senior center, and that current spaces lack flexible meeting rooms, modern technology infrastructure and other features typical of newer libraries and senior centers.
A board member asked whether the city had considered renting or otherwise increasing revenue from new, more flexible spaces. Billings replied the library and community services already rent spaces and that “with different spaces…it could be a much bigger income stream,” citing past projects where updated facilities increased rental revenue because they had spaces that could be used without staff assistance.
Billings encouraged residents to complete the survey through May and noted a kiosk will remain in the library foyer during the outreach period. The consultant will return with concepts and a second round of public engagement before the council sees a recommended site plan.
