Gum Spring Library on hold
By Elizabeth Coe
For more than a year, Dulles South residents have been looking forward to the prospect of having a large county library nearby.
That's what they were promised with the Gum Spring Library, which was announced in 2007 and originally expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Now, because of the poor housing market, plans for the library are on hold.
“I don't see it happening within the next fiscal year,” said Douglas Henderson, director of library services for the Loudoun County Public Library system. “It depends on what the economy is doing.”
Developer Van Metre Homes agreed to pay for the construction of the Gum Spring Library as part of its Stone Ridge community. But construction on the building that is to be its home isn't slated to begin until at least 1,601 homes in the community are sold.
As of now, between 1,400 and 1,500 homes have been sold, so Van Metre is waiting to begin construction on the building that was to include the library along Stone Springs Boulevard and U.S. 50.
A representative from Van Metre could not be reached for comment on this issue.
Groundbreaking for Gum Spring Library might not take place until at least 2009, Henderson said. He said he and area residents are disappointed, but there's nothing they can do.
“It's just the reality of the market with the economy the way it is right now,” he said. “With the county budget the way it is, I would question how the county can even come up with the money to keep it staffed.”
In November 2007, voters passed a referendum to fund the Gum Spring Library. Fifty-five percent of voters in the county approved $7.13 million of taxpayer money to design, furnish and finish the library. The developer supplies the actual building.
The planned 40,000-square-foot library would be on the bottom two levels of a four-level building that also will house office and retail space. The library and office spaces will have separate entrances.
Included inside the library will be a 3,000-square-foot teen center, a children's area, community meeting rooms, a cafe, reference desks, periodicals and a collection of 160,000 books and other materials.
When it is complete, the library will be Loudoun County's largest developer/county partnership, according to the library Web site.
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com