Commissioners direct staff to pursue new Leonardtown library project; defer renovation bid

St. Mary's County commissioners on Jan. 26 agreed to delay a planned solicitation for renovation work at the Leonardtown Library and asked staff to develop a capital project to study construction of a new, larger library.

County staff presented financial and planning materials showing the current renovation was fully funded in Fiscal Year 2015 at roughly $3.2 million but that much of the work remaining was in the A&E (architecture and engineering) phase. Staff said pausing the renovation bid and moving the FY15 funding into a FY15 reserve would allow the county to align capital work to recently completed facility and energy studies and avoid committing money to a project that might not match longer-term needs.

The commissioners discussed whether to proceed with renovating the existing building or to plan a new library. Commissioners weighed the current renovation cost (budgeted at about $3.2 million) against previous estimates for a new facility (the last estimate cited was $15.6 million). Several commissioners said community comments and the library board's views were mixed: some members have favored renovation to deliver improvements sooner, while others prefer a new, larger library despite the higher cost and longer timeline.

The board also discussed whether the existing Leonardtown facility could be repurposed if a new library were built, noting the building’s historic easement and review by the Maryland Historic Trust — which has raised interior and window-preservation issues — would limit exterior and some interior changes. Staff noted that much of the A&E work (HVAC upgrades, elevator, ADA restrooms) would still be useful for other tenants and would not be a total loss if the county later repurposed the building.

The commissioners also directed staff to examine colocation of a new Leonardtown Library with a proposed Garvey Senior Center. Staff said initial space planning shows the Garvey facility likely would be about 18,000 square feet if human services remain in the Potomac building; other studies the board has seen projected larger library needs (one cited figure was about 44,465 square feet) but those programmatic numbers must be validated in the master-planning and A&E phases.

On next steps the board reached two clear directions: defer the solicitation/bid for the current renovation (a construction solicitation would have been released in May) and ask staff to develop a capital project request for a new Leonardtown Library for inclusion in FY2016 planning so the board can see costs and sequencing alongside the Garvey Senior Center options.

The board asked staff to return with refined cost and timing scenarios during the February–March budget work sessions and to show how colocation, sequencing and master planning would affect debt and operating costs.