If timetables hold true, construction of Gaithersburg Library is a year away from completion, and patrons will get to enjoy its cutting-edge amenities a few weeks later.
(Congrats to readers Katie Rapp and Bob Hydorn for correctly discerning the upper floor of the soon-to-be library in our on Monday.)
Gaithersburg-based Henley Construction Company—which built the original library in 1964—reached several construction milestones last month, according to the project’s online update, including work on the roof’s frame.
The new library will feature 60,000 square feet on the first floor, plus a 7,900-square-foot second floor that will hold meeting rooms, storage and a satellite office of the Gilchrist Center for Cultural Diversity in Wheaton, which offers language and vocational support geared towards the county’s growing immigrant population.
Prior to the opening of Germantown Library, the Gaithersburg Library was the county’s busiest. More than 70,000 residents are card-holders within the eight ZIP codes the branch serves. Yearly circulation topped 1 million items and more than 700,000 visits.
The 37,000-square-foot library shut down more two years ago and sat empty for more than a year as construction bogged down amid revamped environmental permitting requirements.
That set off from residents little satisfied by the makeshift interim branch that opened in Lakeforest mall.
