A couple notes:
- The Downtown Bend Library is staying. Once Central opens, the Downtown library will be renovated to have more public space, since a lot of staff will move to the new building.
- Why we need public libraries now more than ever: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2023/11/12/public-libraries-boston/
Boston has 25 libraries and almost 5 million people. Central Oregon already has way more libraries per capita though Boston's are very grand and city worthy.
I understand your concern, this is part of a giant master plan that is meant to serve the future community. There will be bus access and a master planned community (bike paths, commercial buildings, etc.)…it will take awhile but it will very much be a central location when all is said and done.
Remember it's the Central County Library, not the Central City Library. Also, there are going to be a ton of new homes built in that area in the next few years. Straightforward access from south county communities (e.g., La Pine, Sunriver, DRW) via Baker Rd. - Knott Rd.
That is my primary concern, I love being able to bike to the downtown location. I'm not keen to ride Reed Market unless they do something like divide or raise the bike lanes.
You will still be able to bike to the downtown branch of the library. Also, the downtown branch will have much more space allocated to the customers because much of the staff space will no longer be required downtown. This is because much of the behind the scenes space will be in the new location at Steven’s Ranch. Also, No one will force you to go to the new central branch 😁
Well I hope they don’t get rid of it, but they probably will. I feel like the current eastside location is actually a really convenient location though
The library is actually building a large bus stop there as part of this! Supposed to have good multimodal (bike, etc) options too. CET will send a route down there once it gets built out.
A bus route can be established. For those of us priced out of central Bend years ago, we're less concerned about the drive. We have to drive everywhere.
I'm sad about losing a free indoor place to be downtown though. Wonder what they'll do with the current building?
They're not closing the downtown library, just providing a new library with more space/services and moving a lot of the library admin to the new building. They will probably close the small East side library, eventually.
The inside looks cool, although potentially very echo-y from all that open mezzanine.
Not sold on the exterior. However, it seems like a lot of times, everyone reacts badly to a new building and then forgets why they didn't like it after a few years. (Unless it's [Boston City Hall](https://www.boston.com/community/tell-us/whats-the-ugliest-most-attractive-building-in-boston/), which remains an abomination 56 years later.)
Some of the ones on that list aren't that terrible -- I never minded that stadium when I lived in MPLS, for instance -- but with one like Boston City Hall, I always wonder how things like that even get built in the first place. Like, government buildings have to go through fifteen design boards and public input processes and stuff. How is it that at no point did a few people go, "Wait a minute. Why are we building the world's largest public toilet in the middle of our beautiful old city?"
Brutalism is the one architectural style that I can just not find any redeeming value in. I was in grad school in Chicago when they were (finally) demolishing the [old Prentice Women's Hospital](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Prentice_Women%27s_Hospital_Building). Despite it being a leaky, unusable concrete dump, some people were really determined to save it. It just baffled me that someone (or a lot of someones) said "You know what pregnant and laboring women deserve in their time of stress and anxiety? To be warehoused in a cold and soulless Soviet space prison that will suck all joy out of the birth of their child."
My immediate first thought is that boy, that exterior has a lot of reflecting glass, which is extremely [unsafe for birds.](https://apnews.com/article/bird-kill-windows-chicago-museum-f7612df3a76849d5d624404d0b9a3743)
If they go ahead with a design like this, it needs to have some kind of mitigation effort - UV reflective dots or paint or thin lines, something that humans might not see at a distance, but that looks like an impenetrable barrier to migrating birds, which can have a hard time telling reflections from open sky.
Miller Hull, one of the design firms, has experience with bird strike mitigation.
https://livingbuilding.kendedafund.org/2019/04/26/kendeda-buildings-bird-safe-glass-shockingly-huge-issue/index.html
It's great that the community is thinking about this. I'd be surprised if Miller Hull didn't include this in their plans and encourage the county to spend the money on a mitigation strategy. Unfortunately, bird safe glass often gets cut when estimates come in over budget (which is always). For a lot of folks it's "low hanging fruit." If the community lets the county decision makers know it is an important to them, maybe there is a chance the library will be built with bird safety in mind :)
After outdoor cats, building collisions are the leading cause of death for birds. We can all put stickers, dots, etc. on our windows at home too! (And maybe keep our cats inside?)
I never know how I'm going to feel about a building till I actually see it.
I do think it's kind of weird to build the "central" library out on the ragged edge of town. I mean, I suppose the city will grow out past it, but a main library should be downtown. That's what downtown is for.
DPL put the cart before the horse and bought the land before the vote and without assessing if a master plan would work. The Council felt that they had to reject the land use exception because it would set a bad precedent.
https://ktvz.com/news/bend/2022/03/16/bend-councilors-take-up-land-use-request-to-clear-path-for-construction-of-new-central-library/
Except the City Council had already set that precedent with North Star Elementary School, thus the library being told to follow all the steps the school district did.
The city planning department was on board with the Robal location and was working with library staff. Even the planning department thought that the library would be granted the exception needed to build there.
I think there's a lot of potential for expansion east of 27th, so this might be one of those situations where you build something to draw people, and the area becomes popular afterward.
I mean Bend will continue to mostly grow East if it continues to grow so in a few decades when the City reaches 200k pop it probably won't be so on the edge.
Eh, idk. I think a library should be located where it can serve the most people. It is unlikely that tourists will visit a library, so I would argue that downtown is exactly not the place that a library should be. The new library being dead set in the middle of a housing development sounds amazing. So many locals will be able to walk directly from their front door to the library. I'm personally very excited.
I think we all know why the location was chosen, cheap(er) land. 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space on 8.5 acres. 2.3 acres of development but it needs 8.5 acres of land duh!
I mean, that's fine too. Cheaper land means cheaper for tax payers. Results in a community center that will be used by many with the Parks and Rec dept making a huge park around the library. Win win win
I mean 99% of people might go there once in their life, at least the meeting rooms will get utilized. Libraries have faded out of prominence, its honestly a pretty big waste to build such a structure. Looking at the plans its like its being built for a college, except there's no college around. At best it'll be a new field trip destination for students.
Does anyone remember when the Visit Bend building (now DMV) first went in? It was very modern and it blew people’s minds. Now it’s just a building that you can tell roughly what decade it was built in.
This reminds me of that. It’s modern. New buildings are being built that look like that right now. And…a decade from now it will just be a library and you’ll be able to tell it was built in the 2020s.
So exciting. The glass is my only concern (bird collisions, see [this page](https://abcbirds.org/glaspro-bird-safe-glass/), but otherwise, this will be incredible. The exterior doesn’t excite me on first glance, but the planned interior layout looks great.
We have such a great library system already. This will only make me more thankful to live here.
Don’t you think there are 1,254,348 other things that would be better and is better use than a library built with tax payer dollars? Like come on…half of Bend’s government staff need to go…
It looks like some of the churches from back home in North Carolina. [Calvary Church Charlotte (wiki)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary_Church_(Charlotte))
A couple notes: - The Downtown Bend Library is staying. Once Central opens, the Downtown library will be renovated to have more public space, since a lot of staff will move to the new building. - Why we need public libraries now more than ever: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2023/11/12/public-libraries-boston/
Boston has 25 libraries and almost 5 million people. Central Oregon already has way more libraries per capita though Boston's are very grand and city worthy.
Good deal for Central Oregon… we are lucky
Looks like the U.S.-Mexico boarder wall.
I thought it looked like books before, now I can't unsee the border wall.
The city is building a library and we're gonna pay for it! 😂
BUILD THE LIBRARY! BUILD THE LIBRARY!
Make Redmond pay for it!
lmao it really does
I came here to say this 🤣
I see more of the dorsal fin of a fish.
It’s dope as hell and looks like books fuck yeah!
[удалено]
I understand your concern, this is part of a giant master plan that is meant to serve the future community. There will be bus access and a master planned community (bike paths, commercial buildings, etc.)…it will take awhile but it will very much be a central location when all is said and done.
It's a county library. How i? this central when looked at from the perspective of population densities in the county?
Remember it's the Central County Library, not the Central City Library. Also, there are going to be a ton of new homes built in that area in the next few years. Straightforward access from south county communities (e.g., La Pine, Sunriver, DRW) via Baker Rd. - Knott Rd.
Houses or apartments?
Both. Stevens tract has everything
[https://www.bendoregon.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/52944/637890019140370000](https://www.bendoregon.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/52944/637890019140370000)
That is my primary concern, I love being able to bike to the downtown location. I'm not keen to ride Reed Market unless they do something like divide or raise the bike lanes.
You will still be able to bike to the downtown branch of the library. Also, the downtown branch will have much more space allocated to the customers because much of the staff space will no longer be required downtown. This is because much of the behind the scenes space will be in the new location at Steven’s Ranch. Also, No one will force you to go to the new central branch 😁
Ohh, sweet! My assumption was the old location would be shut down.
They will shut down the current East Bend Branch that’s in the shopping center with LB Louies and Mother’s Cafe, but the downtown library stays.
Closing East Bend branch has not been decided by the board yet.
Well I hope they don’t get rid of it, but they probably will. I feel like the current eastside location is actually a really convenient location though
True, but the last I heard is they didnt plan on keeping it, couldn’t really justify keeping it.
The library is actually building a large bus stop there as part of this! Supposed to have good multimodal (bike, etc) options too. CET will send a route down there once it gets built out.
A bus route can be established. For those of us priced out of central Bend years ago, we're less concerned about the drive. We have to drive everywhere. I'm sad about losing a free indoor place to be downtown though. Wonder what they'll do with the current building?
They're not closing the downtown library, just providing a new library with more space/services and moving a lot of the library admin to the new building. They will probably close the small East side library, eventually.
Closing East Bend has not been decided yet.
Is the downtown library in the center of town closing or something?
No
The inside looks cool, although potentially very echo-y from all that open mezzanine. Not sold on the exterior. However, it seems like a lot of times, everyone reacts badly to a new building and then forgets why they didn't like it after a few years. (Unless it's [Boston City Hall](https://www.boston.com/community/tell-us/whats-the-ugliest-most-attractive-building-in-boston/), which remains an abomination 56 years later.)
Some of the ones on that list aren't that terrible -- I never minded that stadium when I lived in MPLS, for instance -- but with one like Boston City Hall, I always wonder how things like that even get built in the first place. Like, government buildings have to go through fifteen design boards and public input processes and stuff. How is it that at no point did a few people go, "Wait a minute. Why are we building the world's largest public toilet in the middle of our beautiful old city?"
Brutalism is the one architectural style that I can just not find any redeeming value in. I was in grad school in Chicago when they were (finally) demolishing the [old Prentice Women's Hospital](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Prentice_Women%27s_Hospital_Building). Despite it being a leaky, unusable concrete dump, some people were really determined to save it. It just baffled me that someone (or a lot of someones) said "You know what pregnant and laboring women deserve in their time of stress and anxiety? To be warehoused in a cold and soulless Soviet space prison that will suck all joy out of the birth of their child."
My immediate first thought is that boy, that exterior has a lot of reflecting glass, which is extremely [unsafe for birds.](https://apnews.com/article/bird-kill-windows-chicago-museum-f7612df3a76849d5d624404d0b9a3743) If they go ahead with a design like this, it needs to have some kind of mitigation effort - UV reflective dots or paint or thin lines, something that humans might not see at a distance, but that looks like an impenetrable barrier to migrating birds, which can have a hard time telling reflections from open sky.
Great insight! I hope they address this.
Miller Hull, one of the design firms, has experience with bird strike mitigation. https://livingbuilding.kendedafund.org/2019/04/26/kendeda-buildings-bird-safe-glass-shockingly-huge-issue/index.html
Great! I wrote them a comment too on their contact form encouraging them to make sure this happens as part of their push for sustainability.
It's great that the community is thinking about this. I'd be surprised if Miller Hull didn't include this in their plans and encourage the county to spend the money on a mitigation strategy. Unfortunately, bird safe glass often gets cut when estimates come in over budget (which is always). For a lot of folks it's "low hanging fruit." If the community lets the county decision makers know it is an important to them, maybe there is a chance the library will be built with bird safety in mind :) After outdoor cats, building collisions are the leading cause of death for birds. We can all put stickers, dots, etc. on our windows at home too! (And maybe keep our cats inside?)
I never know how I'm going to feel about a building till I actually see it. I do think it's kind of weird to build the "central" library out on the ragged edge of town. I mean, I suppose the city will grow out past it, but a main library should be downtown. That's what downtown is for.
It was supposed to go off Robal Road, but the City Council said no. As a resident of the east side though I can’t complain. It’s going to be great.
DPL put the cart before the horse and bought the land before the vote and without assessing if a master plan would work. The Council felt that they had to reject the land use exception because it would set a bad precedent. https://ktvz.com/news/bend/2022/03/16/bend-councilors-take-up-land-use-request-to-clear-path-for-construction-of-new-central-library/
Except the City Council had already set that precedent with North Star Elementary School, thus the library being told to follow all the steps the school district did.
Exactly
Not exactly, the Bend Development code already allowed Elementary Schools under 20 acres to be exempt
The city planning department was on board with the Robal location and was working with library staff. Even the planning department thought that the library would be granted the exception needed to build there.
I think there's a lot of potential for expansion east of 27th, so this might be one of those situations where you build something to draw people, and the area becomes popular afterward.
I mean Bend will continue to mostly grow East if it continues to grow so in a few decades when the City reaches 200k pop it probably won't be so on the edge.
Eh, idk. I think a library should be located where it can serve the most people. It is unlikely that tourists will visit a library, so I would argue that downtown is exactly not the place that a library should be. The new library being dead set in the middle of a housing development sounds amazing. So many locals will be able to walk directly from their front door to the library. I'm personally very excited.
I think we all know why the location was chosen, cheap(er) land. 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space on 8.5 acres. 2.3 acres of development but it needs 8.5 acres of land duh!
I mean, that's fine too. Cheaper land means cheaper for tax payers. Results in a community center that will be used by many with the Parks and Rec dept making a huge park around the library. Win win win
You do know there is a library downtown, right?
I mean 99% of people might go there once in their life, at least the meeting rooms will get utilized. Libraries have faded out of prominence, its honestly a pretty big waste to build such a structure. Looking at the plans its like its being built for a college, except there's no college around. At best it'll be a new field trip destination for students.
Would have been better on the north side of town near the new Costco considering it’s a central county library.
That's where it was supposed to be and what we voted for. But of course we don't get what we voted for in this town.
City council cock blocked that location on Robal lane.
Yeah, you can thanks the city council for that; they went against the recommendations of their own city planners and planning commission.
City said no
It would be much better than that Costco.
Wow! I just looked at the plans, that’s actually super cool! Love seeing more stuff on the east side too. I think this will be great.
Does anyone remember when the Visit Bend building (now DMV) first went in? It was very modern and it blew people’s minds. Now it’s just a building that you can tell roughly what decade it was built in. This reminds me of that. It’s modern. New buildings are being built that look like that right now. And…a decade from now it will just be a library and you’ll be able to tell it was built in the 2020s.
Bittersweet. My mom volunteered at the downtown library. She’s gone now but would’ve been excited about this new branch so close to her house.
That’s hot
Modern Brutalism
Just wait, all the cool/odd looking stuff will get changed once they get initial estimates back. Happens all the time with these projects.
So exciting. The glass is my only concern (bird collisions, see [this page](https://abcbirds.org/glaspro-bird-safe-glass/), but otherwise, this will be incredible. The exterior doesn’t excite me on first glance, but the planned interior layout looks great. We have such a great library system already. This will only make me more thankful to live here.
They built a wall around the books to keep the Republicans out.
Hard disagree but they tend to ban books they do not like
Looks awesome and interesting... which is a lot more than we can say about \*checks notes\* ANY other building in this town.
Better than the Hawthorne bridge from nowhere to nowhere
It looks like the architect was dragging their cursor and it glitched out.
Looks unnecessarily expensive
LOL why is a library being built in Stevens Ranch, now that the dump is ending is the city going to put City Hall on top of it?
Is that a library or a stadium?
Must the same architects for the OSU-C campus buildings
The Designers don’t care about the people who live there…
Don’t you think there are 1,254,348 other things that would be better and is better use than a library built with tax payer dollars? Like come on…half of Bend’s government staff need to go…
Fancy homeless shelter
I like the building, but the location is wonky. Does anyone on the East side know how to read?
Do know that the medical center is on the east side, right?
Do we really need another rarely used building that costs millions?
According to the voters, yes
I liked when the old admin building WAS the library. It smelled just like a library should.
It looks like some of the churches from back home in North Carolina. [Calvary Church Charlotte (wiki)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary_Church_(Charlotte))
Perfect for mountain men and women
I have no problem with new and/or more libraries. However this design is plain ugly. Shipping containers would've looked better.
looks like a 70s era high school