City of Castle Pines acquires land for new library
The City of Castle Pines will soon donate a parcel of land to the Douglas County Library District for a new library in Castle Pines. The parcel, which is located at the intersection of Village Square Lane and Village Square Terrace (adjacent to The Bundt Shoppe), will provide a home for the library, office space for the city, and space that will be shared by both entities to provide community meeting space. As of press time, the city was scheduled to close on the purchase of the land on August 30.
The land was sold to the city by local businesspeople who owned the land. Matt Rolfson, Andrew Dunbar, Stephanie and Jeff Scheich, and Tom Stone originally purchased the land with the intention of building office space in Castle Pines. After moving their new offices to a larger space on the other side of Castle Pines Parkway (see related story page 11) however, the land went up for sale and the City determined it would be an ideal location for a library and city offices.
“We considered a few offers,” said Dr. Stephanie Scheich, who co-owns and operates Castle Pines Family Dentistry with her husband Dr. Jeff Scheich. “But ultimately, all of us were concerned with finding the right end-user for this property. We are all passionate about the library and feel that this will be a wonderful thing for the community.”
The new library will provide a substantial increase in square footage for both the library and the city. The current temporary library location is roughly 2,300 square feet. City offices currently occupy about 1,500 square feet. Preliminary talks between the City and the library district have included discussion of more than doubling space for both entities plus additional shared community space, tentatively putting the size of the building somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 square feet.
City leaders, who will be working to hammer out an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the library district once the purchase of the land is final, see the new library space as a vital part of this growing city.
“The current acquisition of land within the Castle Pines Business Commons for a future Castle Pines library will help activate the vision by driving future activities and services within the core of Commons,” said Sam Bishop, director of community development in Castle Pines.
Though final plans are still not formulated – construction on the building will likely not take place for two to three more years – the mayor of Castle Pines said he is excited about the prospect of the new space and what it will mean for the community.
“We have a great relationship between the library district and city staff,” said Castle Pines Mayor Jeffrey Huff. “We feel that the library will be an amenity that draws people to the area.”
