Photo courtesy Orange County Library System
Horizon Westers have long been requesting a library branch closer to home, and now Orange County Library System is working to make it happen! A branch is currently being planned in between Horizon West's Town Center and the Village of Bridgewater. It will be co-located with the future Horizon West Regional Park, which is located off of Hamlin Groves Trail. This proposed branch location will offer 20,000 sq. ft. of library space plus OCLS's first planned outdoor events area.
In March of 2023, OCLS presented the architectural plans in a community meeting. The presentation info and slides are below. Community feedback is still being solicited through a public survey. We encourage you to take the time to respond because we, the Horizon West residents, have the unique opportunity to influence the development of our area's very own branch!
IN THE MEANTIME:
• Get Your
Library Card Online
• Borrow Books and Media Using Free Home Delivery
• Return Items via
OCLS Drop Box in Hamlin
•
Watch for OCLS Library
Pop-Up Events in Horizon West
• Visit a HW Little Free Library box to give a book or borrow one
• Respond to the Library Survey with your ideas and feedback
Timeline subject to change based on construction and permitting requirements.
OCLS shared new images and design details for publishing in our annually printed Horizon West resource guide.
The Library's design features expansive windows and a deliberate emphasis on integrating with the surrounding nature, both inside and out. A Florida native flower teaching garden, a nature path with a permanent StoryWalk® installation and a large native oak tree as the visual centerpiece will help blend the library seamlessly with the natural surroundings.
The HW Library will also have OCLS's first outdoor events and performance area!
Interior finishes incorporate earthy textures, organic materials and a color palette inspired by the natural environment.
The children's area will be themed with oversized images of flora, fauna and a particularly important native species – the rare blue calamintha bee, which is not only
beautiful, but unique to our region.
Training rooms, study rooms, public computers and a virtual lab with equipment and software for photography,
videography and podcasting will be available to cardholders.
One of the training rooms will serve as a maker space, offering access to sewing machines, microscopes and more.
Meeting spaces, including three large meeting rooms which can be used independently or combined into one large
area, will provide residents with gathering places available both during and after hours.
Groundbreaking is planned in 2024, but no official date has been provided at this time.
Rendering images are shown in the scrolling image gallery above.
Residents were invited to learn more about the future Horizon West Branch and meet the architects, Borelli + Partners and builders, H.J. High Construction in a community meeting.
The presentation slides from the meeting are shown in the scrolling image gallery above.
The 20,000 sq ft library will be co-located with HW Regional Park off Hamlin Groves Trail. The design features expansive windows and a deliberate emphasis on integrating with surrounding nature. With everything you would expect from the library including training, study and meeting rooms, a media lab and OCLS' first outdoor event space, the HW Library is expected to open sometime in 2025 (subject to change based on construction and permitting requirements).
OCLS is still accepting feedback on the Library survey. Copy and paste this link to respond: https://tinyurl.com/ycky6x4y (A clickable link also appears in the orange box above.)
The meeting took place on Monday, March 27, 2023 at 7PM at Waterleigh Clubhouse in Horizon West's Hickory Nut Village with Commissioner Nicole Wilson, members OCLS Staff and Board of Trustees and Matt Suedmeyer from Orange County Parks and Recreation Dept.
A HW Library Update was presented at the OCLS Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 12, 2023.
OCLS has had several meetings with architects Borrelli & Partners and construction team HJ High to discuss library programmatic requirements, design, and LEED certification.
Working with Orange County Parks & Recreation has led to an approved site plan for the project.
The library will be situated on the east side of the property shared with Horizon West Regional Park. The largest part of the building will be the main library, which will include library materials, training rooms, study rooms, customer service desk, public computers, and the children’s area. There will be a separate area for meeting spaces, including three large meeting rooms that can be opened into one large area or be used as three separate spaces. These will have access to an outdoor area. This branch will have an outdoor stage area with a grassy seating to host large events and outdoor programming.
The space in-between these two components is a reception area that can be closed off so the meeting rooms can be used after hours, while keeping the library area closed and secure. This will also connect to the outdoor performance area.
Currently, the architect team is working on the building & floor plan.
On June 9, the Orange County Library System Board of Trustees approved leases for new library branches in both Lake Nona and Horizon West.
In Horizon West, the library will have a ground lease with Orange County that will allow for the design and construction of a library in the Horizon West Regional Park (located at the intersection of Tiny Road and Hamlin Groves Trail). The library will design and construct a 20,000 square-foot building and outdoor pavilion that will share parking and outdoor space with recreation and community facilities operated by the county. Orange County executed its lease with the Library on July 28, 2022.
Board approves the Design Services Contract with Borrelli + Partners in the amount of $1,554,943.96. Horizon West branch design process will begin once the property lease is signed.
Board of Trustees approved OCLS staff to enter into fee negotiations with Borrelli & Partners Architects as the selected architects for the Horizon West branch.
OCLS staff begin plans to hire an architect and contractor for the Horizon West branch. Library CFO indicated finalized leases for both HW branch and Lake Nona branch locations are 6 to 12 months away.
Since 1974, the Library has been delivering requests to home doorsteps! Library customers are eligible for home delivery of library items through MAYL (Materials Access from Your Library). Most deliveries are made by Priority Express Parcel to your home, while the remainder are sent by US Mail. At the Aug 2021 meeting, the Board of Trustees announced that MAYL will be extended to serve all of 34787 zip code -- much of which serves Horizon West residents.
Horizon West received an interim solution while awaiting a full OCLS branch. . A Book Return drop-box was installed in the Publix plaza in the Hamlin area of HW Town Center. It is located in front of State Farm Insurance on Shoreside Way. The drop box makes returning borrowed books and multimedia materials simpler and more convenient, especially for items ordered through the library’s free home delivery service.
Orange County and City of Orlando officials collaborated to bring a proposal to the OCLS Board to suggest a possible path to funding two locations simultaneously. In Horizon West, rather than purchase the parcel at Tiny Road in Horizon West, staff suggested obtaining the land through a ground lease. In Lake Nona, the City of Orlando would bear the construction costs of the building, parking and infrastructure and will later lease the completed facility to OCLS at market value. As a first step, the Board voted to pursue working with Orange County and City of Orlando for libraries at both locations. This gave both parties authorization to begin drafting the real estate deals required.
On behalf of the residents of Lake None, the City of Orlando committed to bring the OCLS Board of Trustees a proposal that could allow for libraries to be built in both locations — Horizon West and Lake Nona.
A grassroots effort from residents in Lake Nona sought to have OCLS build a branch there as well, but the Library only had funding to build one new branch at a time. A City Commissioner from Orlando suggested research could be done to find an avenue to fund both locations. He suggested there is an opportunity to take advantage of Orlando's plans to build a government center in Lake Nona.
in January 2021, the Library Board voted to commit to purchase a parcel of land at the near the northeast corner of the future Horizon West Regional Park. This action allows OCLS staff to proceed with all the things necessary for negotiating the land purchase.
During the November 2020 Board of Trustees Meeting, the Library Board approved a resolution, which selects the Horizon West “East Parcel” – located at the intersection of Tiny Road and Hamlin Groves Trail – as the preferred location for the Horizon West Branch Library.
A plan for a Horizon West library branch has been in the works for many years. OCLS Board of Trustees' meeting minutes reflect discussions about a Horizon West branch since at least 2016!
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Living in Horizon West magazine.
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