After years of planning, community surveying, and a year of delay, Lone Cone Library has been able to wrap up the conceptual design stage of its outside site design and is moving forward with writing a request for proposal (RFP) for a landscape architect. 

“The conceptual design process took a year longer than we anticipated,” said library director Carrie Andrew, “mostly due to complications of COVID and travel, and there is also a backlog of projects in this program we used.” 

The conceptual design process was done with students at the University of Colorado-Denver and with Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), through the University Technical Assistance program.

The library's next steps are, one, to write the RFP, which, Andrew said, “means we need sample RFPs to look at that are grounds-related.” The board will obtain samples and look them over, then write their own. 

“We’re potentially looking for local landscape architects,” said Andrew, and also iterated the need for the right person. 

“We had wanted to do some of this grassroots, and we may still do that. We just need to make sure whomever we hire has certain background training and skills,” she said. “We want to be sure, in our project, that we’re modeling wise water usage, using plants that are drought-tolerant, that we’re using permaculture, regenerative agriculture. We want to make sure we get a designer who understands those concepts.”

Once a bid is out, the committee will review the bids and choose.

“Hopefully, we might be asking for community input as early as this summer,” she said.  

Plans for the outdoor space currently include features like walkways, gardens, a ropes course, shade areas and a pavilion, outdoor audio-visual equipment and a night sky observatory. 

“An observatory was one of the top things people were excited about on our May 2021 grounds survey,” said Andrew.  “It will evolve over time, and we need plans from experts, and funding, but we are making space for it and we’ll see if it’s still the right place,” she said, noting the current and upcoming development in the area around the library. 

In addition, the library has been working with other groups, like the Pinon Park subdivision and the Town of Norwood. 

“The town and library asked, ‘How can we create a walkable corridor that connects the space?' We had a vision planned out to have open space and communities connected to improve quality of life … We also don’t want to duplicate preexisting things, and want to discuss what goes where,” Andrew said. 

One thing that’s certain, said Andrew, “We will not be going back to the taxpayers. This next phase will come out of existing funding and also grants. That means it may take a little longer.”

The library does have one empty board seat at this time, which, Andrew said, “is great for someone interested in helping move forward with the next steps in this process.” 

For more information, or to join the board, people may stop by the library to talk with Andrew, or visit the library’s website, loneconelibrary.org. 

Past survey results and the current plans for the outdoor space can be accessed by clicking  “Welcome,” then “District Info.” Then, scroll down to “statistical data” to find Outside Site Design Survey Results and other data. This site will be updated as information is available.