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Where to put new library? Jacksonville considers several sites By MELISSA MARTIN JACKSONVILLE -- The City Council is considering where to put a new library that would be built if county voters approve a library bond next year. Possible sites include behind the Jacksonville Museum or Jacksonville Market, next door to City Hall on Main Street or behind the US West building at the corner of Highway 238 and Oregon Street. Engineers hired by Jackson County are creating designs for 13 branch buildings. But a uniform design won't work in Jacksonville, city officials say. A new library in Jacksonville must match the historic setting of surrounding buildings, says Paul Wyntergreen, city administrator. "The exterior design will be an issue in Jacksonville," Wyntergreen says. "Construction costs may be higher." A library built behind the US West building, for example, would have to be made of brick to match the 1874 telephone company building's brick construction. Brick is more costly to build with than wood. Members of the Library Advisory Committee favor the Munson Property, a parcel behind the 125-year-old U.S. Post Office building, says Larry Smith, committee member and Jacksonville elementary school teacher. "We took five properties and the architect gave us 15 criteria to match. The Munson Property came out number one over all the other sites," Smith says. The county-owned Munson land is centrally located next to public restrooms, 300 parking spaces, a Highway 238 off-ramp, a disabled-accessible path, a bus stop and a skateboard park to attract young people to the library, Smith says. "It has enough space to allow a small park around it and kids can come in off D Street safely on their bicycles without negotiating a busy highway," Smith says. Jacksonville's library, called the Ruch Branch, currently occupies 1,200 square feet of space in a city-owned, two-story brick building on Oregon Street. The City Council will hold a second study session at 7 p.m. Monday, May 10, to continue its discussion about a library's new home. In other action, the City Council Tuesday rejected a request by seven property owners to pave a 460-foot section of Woodberry Lane. Jacksonville resident Royce Wale presented to the council the three bids he collected from paving companies, including a low bid of $11,200 and a high bid of $12,900, along with a $2,600 engineering bid. The City Council next month will discuss forming a local improvement district and taxing the nine Woodberry property owners for the paving project. "We're not mad at the city," says Wale, a telephone company retiree who has lived in Jacksonville for eight years. "We just want to get our street paved." He describes Woodberry Lane as a hilly street of dirt and rocks that wash away when it rains. Wale says he was inspired to ask the City Council to pave Woodberry Lane after watching crews pave F Street, near a new development. "They used taxpayer money to pave F Street and we felt it would be fair if they would pave our street," he says. Woodberry Lane is one of 21 privately maintained streets that don't meet city standards, Wyntergreen says. If the streets can be brought up to city standards, the city will take over maintenance, he says. The council also approved a request by Edward Cox to serve beer and wine at the Baja Cafe, 130 N. Fifth St. The application must still be approved by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA