Ahh, and the work goes on, even during the blustery days.

Front view as of December 17, 2008.

This poor quality photo shows the exterior of the Story Time "House".

This is the left wall of the main hall as one enters the library space.

Interior wood trim in the program room.

These "antique" light poles were installed during the week of December 1.

View of the front as of 11/06/08.

Outside the Children's Area (west side of the lot) is an outdoor bermed area for programs.

The drive-up book return has two heights--one for cars, and one for SUVs or trucks.

The work for the skylight over the Children's Area has begun!

Here you can see the new paving (11/04) and the front entry (11/06).

The front entryway has just been poured here, and a cement worker is positioning the pedestrian tactile warning plates. They are ADA required in all new sidewalk work and are placed where sidewalks intersect with roads or parking lots.

Children's Area, north outdoor courtyard

Some of the newly arrived plantings on the back exit road.

Looking at the front porch entrance.

This is the Bardeen Mansion, built in 1895, and located where today's Washout laundromat is (was) located on West Allegan St. Many architectural details from this stately old home have been replicated at the new library (interior and exterior).

SW corner of the library, showing the chimney modeled after the 1895 Bardeen mansion chimney.

Images from 10/01/2008

Another skylight area above the reference/information desk. The actual skylight windows will not be installed until early November.

This is an interior view of the drive-up book return. The two slots will be convenient for vehicles of different heights. The green in the distance is the edge of the detention pond.

This view is toward the southeast, looking across the main library section toward the front corner where the periodical, newspapers and fireplace will be located. Also, the circle window on the right is inside the young adult room. The skylight here will be near the book stacks.

This is the future Friends of the Library Book Sale Room. It will hold the "ongoing" supply of donated books for sale, and directly behind it is a sorting and storage room for donated books.

Interior of the program room, looking southeast.

One can see the covered front entryway taking shape. Still needed are the steel beams atop the turret.

This is the skylight area above the information desk/checkout area. We're going to use a product called Kalwall, which is a translucent material made of fiberglass and very energy efficient. Looking upward, one will eventually see a skylight projecting up in the shape of a pyramid. The supporting block wall shown here is where the copy center and a self-checkout computer will be located.

Just inside the front door, one can see all the way to the northwest corner of the building where the children's area is located. Construction workers here have started placing metal studs on the walls. Steelworkers have also been busy erecting columns, beams, trusses, and now the roof decking.

This is the library's front entrance.

The brick is looking beautiful, and at this point nearly half of the exterior is finished. The brick has a "tumbled" edge to it giving it a softer and somewhat historic or antique look to it. The exterior details, including the cut stone,windows, portico, chimney, front entrance canopy and columns will reflect details from the Bardeen House that existed in Otsego from 1895-1964. It was the home of the founder of Otsego's paper mills, George Bardeen. Even though the mansion has been gone for 44 years, it is still remembered fondly by those who saw it. The future library will honor the community's past by incorporating some of the characteristics of the Bardeen House inside and outside the building.

Steel and Brick

Today (August 26) is the first day when the steel columns and beams really start to go up. The crane arrived this morning and immediately got busy. Also, this is the 2nd day of laying the cut stone and exterior brick. You can see the bricklayers busy on the southeast corner of the building (that section will be the program and meeting room).

This area will eventually be the "stream" where one crosses over a bridge to enter the children's section. Unlike the current library's children's section, the new library will offer a kid's space truly distinct and different from the rest of the collection area. Here we are looking southwest across the west half of the building.

This is looking through a front (Dix Street) window into the program/community room.

Pouring the Slab

Friday, August 15. The crews were here by 5 AM and pouring the cement slab by 6 AM. They nearly have the floor finished and will be back on Monday the 18th to complete it. The view here is looking from the east to west, across the program room (front), all the way to the children's section.

Aerial 8-9-08

The exterior block wall is about 75% complete.

Children's Area

This photo shows the north wall of the library where eventually the children's section will be located. The area where the floor is pink is going to be the children's story time room. The facade of that room will look like a Victorian-era home from downtown Otsego, complete with a front porch. The circle window straight ahead will actually be a cozy window seat for kids. Can you see the four bricklayers from JK Masonry atop the wall?

Left to right: CSM Project Manager Kevin Northrup, CSM Project Director Mark Roys, Architect Rod Thomson. Kevin's on site every day, Mark is overseeing all aspects of the project, and Rod commutes at least once a week from Stevensville to meet with CSM and the contractors on site. Things are running smooth and as of this date we are about a week ahead of schedule.

JK Masonry arrived on site Monday, July 8 with equipment and cement blocks. Heavy rain Monday afternoon sent them home early, but they began laying the block the next day and as you can see, they are progressing quickly. The web camera has been moved slightly to the west to see more of the front of the building. The area where the brick has been laid in this image is the west wall of the children's area, the young adult room, and the two tutoring rooms--almost all the way to the sw corner of the library. They need the equipment you see here to make the mortar for the blocks.

Foundation work almost done

The foundation work is nearly finished as the excavators spent this morning (July 1) backfilling soil up against the foundation walls. New sidewalks on Platt and Dix Streets will be poured today also. Next up: under slab utilities work and then masonry (walls)!

A slightly better view showing Dix Street Elementary to the east.

From the air

This scene was taken courtesy of John Chapman's airplane on Wednesday, June 19 at about 12:30pm. If you look closely you'll see the "footprint" of the building and the two front parking lots. Gravel was put in the parking lots the day before--eliminating the chance for project manager Kevin Northrup to get his truck stuck for the 20th time!

The Beginning...

This photo, taken on Friday June 7, shows a quiet scene looking north across the property. The excavating company (Woolf Excavators) first started scraping away the top soil and preparing the building site on May 27. The front of the building will face the intersection of Dix and Platt Streets.

Groundbreaking on May 19, 2008

The groundbreaking ceremony at the new library property was short and very sweet on Monday, May 19 at 4pm. It lasted about 15-20 minutes and was attended by approximately 100 people. From left to right, the "dig"nitaries were library board president John Chapman, library director Ryan Wieber, board secretary Nancy Seibert, treasurer Diana Gilmer, vice president Renny Ransbottom, trustees Jacquie Bennett and Sharon Tans, election campaign chair Tammy Collins, architect Rod Thomson, Friends president Marg Murphy, and CSM Group's project director Mark Roys. Words of introduction were given by Ryan Wieber, and then an inspiring perspective on the significance of the occasion from John Chapman preceded the shoveling of soil.