City targets September opening for Main Library

Update: The city provided the following statement regarding new documents that note an “anticipated reopening in the fall of 2025.”

“We are pleased with the progress being made to complete the renovation of the President Barack Obama Main Library. Our target date to reopen this September is on schedule, and we look forward to inviting the community to rediscover this neighborhood gem and St. Pete treasure.”

City officials have repeatedly pledged that St. Petersburg’s Main Library would, finally, reopen this summer. Anxious stakeholders should keep the champagne on ice. 

The library, renamed after former President Barack Obama in February 2021, closed the following month for long-overdue renovations. Contractors subsequently discovered asbestos, and construction costs soared. 

In April 2022, administrators expected to spend $13.4 million renovating and upgrading the 44,000-square-foot facility. The total cost will now surpass $17.1 million.

Council members, at their July 11 meeting, must approve two contract amendments totaling over $325,000. City documents mostly attribute the latest delays to Hurricane Milton, despite the storm making landfall in early October 2024. 

However, Mayor Ken Welch said the library was “on target to open by late summer” at the Feb. 4 State of the City event. Later that month, City Architect Raul Quintana told the Catalyst that major construction work would conclude by late May and the restocking process, including technological enhancements, “could take a couple of months.” 

“Due to Hurricane Milton, the electrical distribution panels and components were damaged,” states the new documents. “These elements were not part of the original scope of work to be renovated or replaced under this project.” 

Clearwater-based Biltmore Construction used the city’s $434,000 contingency fund to “offset damages.” The company has seemingly waited for officials to reimburse those costs through a $250,000 contract amendment, subject to the council’s approval July 11, to complete the work. 

The project has already encountered myriad unforeseen circumstances, and stakeholders must now navigate a new hurricane season. “When the owner’s (city) contingency is replenished, final work items related to exterior site work will be completed,” notes the document. 

“Once substantially complete, the city will restock and furnish the library for an anticipated reopening in the fall of 2025.” 

A graphic showing the project’s costs increasing from roughly $7.2 million to $13 million. The total is now over $17 million. Screengrab.

City officials signed an architectural and engineering contract with St. Petersburg-based G2 Design in November 2020. The firm’s work continues nearly five years later. 

The council must approve a $75,425 increase for additional design services due to “existing field conditions discovered during the course of construction, and additional items required as part of the building permit.” The total contract must not exceed $1.32 million. 

City documents list 20 unforeseen conditions and scope revisions related to architectural and engineering work. Those include incorrect installation of low-voltage wiring, design conflicts, wall vibration concerns in the children’s and teen areas and flood-damaged electrical equipment. 

The library at 3745 9th Avenue N., designed by legendary St. Pete architect William Harvard, opened in 1964 and underwent asbestos removal in the 1980s. City officials knew an encapsulated section under the roof remained; contractors found exponentially more asbestos than expected when the renovation project began in April 2021.

The carcinogenic building material had seeped into wall cavities. While stakeholders initially expected construction to conclude by early 2023, the abatement process took precedence over any other repairs or remodeling. 

Welch decided to expand the “generational” project’s scope in April 2022. The council approved $13.04 million in supplemental appropriations in July 2023. 

At the time, Quintana thought the library would reopen by this spring. “If we can improve upon that, we will,” Quintana added. 

“We value education here in our city,” said former Councilmember Ed Montanari. “We’ve got a city council and a mayor that values reading, and having a library that is state-of-the-art, where people want to go and expand their minds, is very foundational to our city.” 

Once complete, the library will feature a vastly reimagined interior. A sculpture from Memphis-area artist Ben Butler will adorn a lobby wall.

Contributions from local artists will add to the interior and exterior ambiance. Reconfigured spaces will offer science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) programming. Visitors can read on a redesigned back patio overlooking Lake Jorgensen.

“We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Quintana said in February. “Once we got the funding and we awarded the construction contract, there haven’t been any delays in construction.”