Shock and awe. That's how Emy Johnson describes the sensation in Shoreview as the big trees began to fall outside the public library.
"People were saying, What is happening on this piece of property!?' " the City Council member said. "One of the many things our residents love about our community is all the mature trees, the lakes …"
She's convinced, though, that once people experience what's rising beside the library, built in the early 1990s, and how suited it is for today's needs, all will be forgiven.
Mayor Sandy Martin agrees.
"It's been a little bit tumultuous," she said. "But as I said at the groundbreaking [late last month], to people who really mourn the loss of trees at that site I just am trying to urge that we keep our eyes on the prize: a new regional library with expanded services, better hours, new technology. I am excited. It is the perfect fit for our Shoreview campus" of civic facilities.
"Regional" means that it's a bigger, hub-like installation, just the third in the Ramsey County system. And it's meant to be a draw for a wide area, not just Shoreview.
Once the new place opens in 2017, the improvements will be dramatic, said Susan Nemitz, the library system director.
"With a regional library, one big thing we do is to greatly expand our space for children and teens," she said. "Forty percent of what happens in Shoreview is children and [the existing space] really is undersized for that," with just an odd corner of an oddly angled building.
