More Top Picks Best Amazon Prime Day Desktop Computer Deals 2026
player ready...The Naperville Public Library Board of Trustees and the library’s executive director support building a new city parking deck in the downtown Nichols Library parking lot.
At their Wednesday board meeting, library trustees discussed a letter to be sent to Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli and the Naperville City Council formally endorsing a parking deck that would take a portion of the Nichols’ lot at 200 W. Jefferson Ave.
Trustees are expected to vote on a revised version of the letter in July, but voiced support for the parking structure, a project that’s been in the works on and off for close to two decades and is now back on the table.
Dave Della Terza, the library’s executive dirctor, described the letter revisions as “minor” and anticipates it will be approved at the board’s next meeting.
“I’ve worked at the library for 20 years almost. … It’s the number one thing I’ve heard the entire time I’ve worked here is that Nichols Library needs better parking. We hear it all the time from our customers,” he said.
Some of the library’s most frequent patrons are seniors and families with young children, which have a harder time parking farther away from the library, Della Terza said.
“Let’s say it’s a parent with three young kids and a stroller. If they have to park two blocks away to come to story time in a parking deck, like the Van Buren parking deck, they’re probably just going to say, ‘It’s not worth it, I’m not going to come,’” he said.
The library has the data to back up the need. According to the 2026 Naperville Public Library Community Survey, parking at the Nichols Library was the top issue cited. About 11% of respondents said they wanted to see parking improvements at the downtown branch, up from 9% in the 2023 survey.
Should the plan move forward, it could increase the city’s downtown parking supply by 10%, escalating capacity from 130 to 500 spaces, according to the original 2008 architectural design.
The project was revived earlier this year by the Downtown Naperville Alliance and the Downtown Advisory Committee, which have been gathering feedback on it ahead of city budget workshops later this year. The proposal calls for the original design to be updated in 2027 and the deck built in 2028, according to Katie Wood, executive director of Downtown Naperville Alliance.
Current estimates put the construction cost at between $34 million to $36 million, the draft letter from the library said. City spokesperson Linda LaCloche said staff will continue to review cost estimates as the city heads into budget season.
Della Terza said he believed a positive endorsement from the board was important in helping the project move forward.
“Nichols Library gets over 1,500 people a day so that’s one of the busiest places in all of downtown Naperville,” he said. “So I feel like people definitely wants to hear from the board whether the library is in support of the parking deck or not.”
Should the project move forward, the library would remain open but some of what it offers, like drop-off and curbside services, would have to be adjusted during the construction, Della Terza said.
“The parking lot that we have there is not in good condition. … Whether it becomes a new parking lot or a new parking deck, it does need to be fixed, so we’re in (support of) just fixing it and making it better,” he said.