Visitors to the Fairhope Public Library will soon see construction begin on a much-awaited renovation.

The Friends of Fairhope Public Library’s capital campaign reached its goal, and the Fairhope City Council awarded the bid for the project during the Monday, Feb. 19 City Council meeting.

The improvements to the uncompleted second floor of the Fairhope Public Library have been a long time coming. Back in June 2021, Gulf Coast Media (GCM) reported the project was expected to begin in 2022. In April 2023, GCM reported on an eight-week fundraising campaign to push the capital campaign over the finish line. At that time, $731,685.38 of the just over $1 million needed for the renovation had been raised.

The second-floor renovation will create four new spaces including a spacious, bright and inviting Teen Space, a new and improved Maker Space, a room for Technical Services and Testing and an area for the Friends of Fairhope Public Library who work with book donations.

The work will be completed in three phases and the bid documents highlight that the work should be completed with minimal impact on daily operations. The documents state work can take place after library hours. Phase one will include the demolition and building of the new Library Technical Services office, the new Friends of the Fairhope Public Library workspace and the Maker Space buildout.

The area that is set to become the Teen Space is occupied by Technical Services and the Friends of the Fairhope Public Library. Once their spaces are complete, they will move into them and free up the Teen Space for renovations to begin in phase two. Phase three will see the replacement of flooring in the current Board Room and Circulation spaces on the second floor.

During the city council meeting, Witherington Construction Corp. was awarded the bid for the library renovations with a not to exceed of $812,000.

According to the bid documents, the project is to be completed in 180 calendar days.

No start date has been announced but the Friends of the Fairhope Public Library said they hoped to see work begin shortly, as early as March during the Fairhope Library Board Meeting, Monday, Feb. 19.

Golf Carts

Another item discussed during the Feb. 19 Fairhope City Council meeting is electric golf carts for Quail Creek Golf Course patrons.

The patrons of the Quail Creek Golf Course will soon have brand-new electric golf carts to drive as the Fairhope City Council awarded Yamaha Golf Car company the bid for 70 new electric golf carts for $523,250 ($7,475 per cart).The current amount budgeted for the golf carts in the current fiscal year budget is $26,528.