Nichols Library will undergo nearly $1 million in renovations this fall as part of a years-long effort by Naperville Public Library to do upgrades at all three branches.
On Wednesday, a presentation on the planned work was made to the Naperville Library Board. Chief among the changes changed are an overhaul of the downtown library’s adult services staff area and installation of new flooring in the community and program rooms.
The anticipated renovations mark the tail end of what’s been a series of upgrades done at the Nichols, Naper Boulevard and 95th Street libraries over the past four years, according to Executive Director Dave Della Terza.
The work hasfocused on bringing buildings up to date both in design and functionality.
“A lot of these spaces (we’ve been working on) … were either original to the buildings or they were just not conducive to the work that we were trying to get done,” Della Terza said. “So we’ve been trying to slowly but surely chip away at those and make it better.”
To date, nearly $2.58 million-worth of renovations have been completed, he said. Those include $567,363 in improvements completed at Nichols Library between 2022 and 2023; $1,281,772 in renovations at Naper Boulevard Library completed 2023 and 2024; and $728,213 in upgrades at 95th Street Library last year.
The initial round of improvements at Nichols was exclusively focused on staff areas, including an upgrade to administrative offices, the branch’s staff lounge and customer service offices.
Renovations since have concentrated on a mix of public areas and staff spaces, including a revamp of the work spaces at Naper Boulevard plus the replacement of the carpeting in all of the public areas of 95th Street Library, Della Terza said. The marketing and communications workroom at 95th Street was also redone.
The additional $983,000 in renovations budgeted for Nichols this year are expected to start in September and be completed by mid-December, Della Terza said. The branch’s community and program rooms will be closed for a period of time as they undergo construction, though they’re still “working on exactly how long that will be,” he said. Programs will continue to be held in alternative spaces.
“We’re still trying to figure out that schedule,” he said. “The community room will probably be closed for a month and a half to two months then reopen. The program room might be closed for the majority of the project, but we’re going to be utilizing spaces like the children’s story room, the coworking space and other spaces like that to do programs while the two larger rooms are closed.”
Naperville Public Library will go out to bid with the project in May with award contracts expected to go before the board for approval in June, according to an agenda report for Wednesday’s meeting. Revenue sources for the nearly $1 million project include $500,000 from Naperville Public Library’s capital fund and $460,000 from the city of Naperville’s capital program, the report said.
The Nichols project will be the “last renovation we’ll be undertaking for a little bit,” Della Terza said.
Instead, the library will be shifting its focus to tackling projects outlined in a facilities master plan that are currently in the works.
Since January, SMC Construction Services of Elgin has been conducting a facilities master plan study. Results should be ready in May or June and will be presented to the board, Della Terza said. The study is looking at items like HVAC systems, roofing, elevators, window seals — the things “that you sometimes take for granted,” he said.
“We have three big buildings that all have complex systems,” he said, “so we want to make sure that we’re on top of knowing when we need to replace things.”
A facilities master plan will help the library map out what needs to be done over the next five to 10 years, Della Terza said. That, in turn, will allow the organization to budget for needed projects “more effectively,” he said.
