Renderings of a new library were unveiled Monday night to the Des Plaines City Council, meeting as a committee of the whole.
Plans for the $13.5 million building, which will be the centerpiece of the city’s downtown redevelopment project, call for an atrium to extend through the structure’s four stories. They also call for a 200-seat multipurpose meeting room and a 70-seat theater/lecture room.
Library director Sandra Norlin said the 80,000-square-foot structure will be twice the size of the existing library and will expand the space for the library’s collection by 70 percent.
The plans were drafted by the Chicago architectural firm Lohan Associates.
Several aldermen objected to the open “institutional” red brick and flat-roof appearance of some architectural drawings presented by Lohan staff members. But Lohan partner Floyd Anderson said the final look of the building has yet to be designed.
At the aldermen’s urging, Anderson also promised to look into the feasibility of creating a direct connection to the library from an adjacent three-story parking garage.