The Cook Memorial Library District, hoping to tap into the mood from the recent election, is planning its own bond measure in March seeking a minimum of $22.1 million.
Library trustees last week voted 5-1 to build a 85,000-square-foot library in Vernon Hills and renovate the 29-year-old Cook Memorial Library in downtown Libertyville. The referendum proposal could go higher if the district includes some operating funds.
The new library would be on five acres next to Lake Harvey in the Gregg’s Landing subdivision, formerly part of the Cuneo estate. Vernon Hills acquired the parcel in a developer donation, and agreed to give the land to the Library District if a referendum proposal is passed.
Library Board President Joe Bean acknowledged the district would be going to voters for money only five months after they approved a $48.5 million proposal to build a new high school in Libertyville Community High School District 128. The Library District’s boundaries are similar to the school district’s and include all of Libertyville, most of Vernon Hills, part of Mundelein, and Green Oaks, Indian Creek and Mettawa.
But Bean is confident the heavy demand for services at Cook Memorial Library and overcrowding there will lead voters to back the plan.
Trustees will hold a series of meetings over the next month to gather public comments on the building plan and to hammer out the details of the proposal. The district will be working with financial and architectural consultants during the process, Bean said.
The district’s next meeting will be Dec. 2 at Cook Memorial Library.