The background
At the meeting, City Council heard from Ryan Bass, an architect from PGAL Inc., which is a Houston-based architectural firm. Bass gave a presentation outlining potential upgrades for the library and constructing a new community center where the old City Hall was located adjacent to the Senior Citizen Center, according to agenda documents.
In March 2023, Friendswood City Council approved a study to assess how the library was serving the community’s needs. PGAL subsequently met with stakeholders to better understand what residents and city leaders wanted to see the library accomplish for the community.
The current 10,000-square-foot Friendswood Activity Building is over 50 years old and only has the capacity to support 25% of the Parks & Recreation Department’s needs, according to the PGAL presentation.
“That building has lived its life,” Bass said. “I’m going to leave it there.”
PGAL recommended using land adjacent to the current community center to extend the center.
With the expanded parcel of land, the community center would sit on 2.8 acres as a 63,839-square-foot, three-story building and include a fitness center, walking track and classrooms.
What else?
Originally constructed in 1979, the library was expanded in 1996 and received additional renovation in 2017, according to the presentation.
PGAL recommended rather than building a new library, updating some of the existing building’s infrastructure, such as its original roof, electrical gear, plumbing and HVAC system, which has multiple operational and code-deficient issues, according to the presentation.
“I don’t think we need to throw it away; I think it’s got some opportunity in it. ... Let’s focus on using what we’ve got while we can,” Bass said.
PGAL proposed expanding the existing library by building an 8,060-square-foot addition over a driveway on the current building’s south side, according to the presentation. The expanded space would be used to serve the library’s growing administrative needs, which Bass said the current building cannot do.
By the numbers
PGAL presented three budgets for the project, with varying levels of amenities and spaces depending on the cost.
The most expensive proposed budget was $47 million, and the least expensive of the three was $43 million.
The proposed budget for the library expansion is $13.8 million, according to the presentation.
Quote of note
“Big bucks ... it’s a lot of sticker shock there Ryan, but we know what it costs to build things these days,” Mayor Mike Foreman said. “We all would love to see this get done.”
Looking ahead
The project is not currently funded beyond the design work that PGAL conducted. To fund the full project, it would require working with additional partners and having a bond election, City Manager Morad Kabiri said.
