On Tuesday, January 26, in front of an estimated crowd of over 300, District 3 Councilwoman Jennifer V. Ramos kicked off the construction of the Mission Branch Library with a groundbreaking ceremony.  Councilwoman Ramos was joined by Mayor Julian Castro, State Senator Carlos Uresti, and State Representative’s Roland Gutierrez and Joe Farias along with a host of other local dignitaries and representatives from the San Antonio Public Library

    The new library will be built on the grounds of the former Mission Drive In Theater located at 3100 Roosevelt Avenue.

    The $7.4 million, 16,400-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in spring 2011. The facility is designed by Kell Munoz Architects and the construction of the facility will be done by O’Haver Contractors.

    Councilwoman Ramos sees this new facility as yet another unique opportunity for the residents of District 3. “With everything that is going on in our community from the Mission Reach to Texas A&M this new facility will no doubt fit in as a benchmark of growth and development,” she states.

    “There have been a lot of hours devoted to this incredible project and I am confident that the end result will be an access to education facility that will serve this community at a very high level,” Ramos continues.

    Library Board Chair Jean Brady agreed. “This is the best part of serving on the Library Board. It’s so exciting to bring a new library to our community. City Council District 3 has long needed another library to provide service to residents here, and we are thrilled to be starting construction. We’d like to thank Councilwoman Ramos and former Councilman Roland Gutiérrez for helping us obtain funding for this project, and all the citizens who voted for libraries in the 2007 bond initiative.”

 

Fast Facts: Mission Branch Library

Description: Construction of a new 16,400-square-foot branch library

Funds: $7,400,000 (2007 Bond $4,175,000; unissued Certificates of Obligation $2,825,000; reallocated capital funds $400,000)

Location/District: 3100 Roosevelt Avenue / District 3

Project Architect: Kell Muñoz

Design Enhancement: Chris Sauter

Construction Contract: O’Haver Contractors

About the name: The name of Mission Branch Library was selected not only to honor the San Antonio Missions National Park, which adjoins the library site, but also to commemorate the old Mission Drive-In Theater, which was a long-time landmark in the neighborhood. The new library will be built on a section of the Mission Drive-In Theater property.

About the architects: Founded in 1927 by Bartlett Cocke and John Kell, Sr., Kell Muñoz Architects is the largest and oldest minority-owned architectural practice in the state of Texas. The company’s designs often reflect the diverse history and culture of the Texas/Mexico border. Kell Muñoz has worked on public, corporate, and academic projects such as the San Antonio Convention Center, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Trinity University, and SeaWorld. They have designed more than 100 libraries and library resource centers. Today the firm is led by entrepreneur and activist Henry Muñoz III and Geoffrey Edwards.

About the design: The new branch library will be a catalyst and model for new development within the 26-acre area formerly occupied by the Mission Drive-In Theater, encouraging a new wave of improvements and development along the newly formed Roosevelt Avenue Corridor district.

With a site just north of the historic Mission San Jose and less than one block west of Mission County Park and the Historic Mission Reach of the San Antonio Riverwalk, the new library will incorporate elements reminiscent of many architectural influences in the region. The library will be single-story building composed of a 30-foot tall reading room with a shed roof covered with barrel-vaulted clay tiles. Stucco and stone on the exterior of the building will echo construction materials from the nearby missions. Visitors will enter the building through paired decorative doors reminiscent of doors in the nearby missions, to see three brick-vaulted bovedas like those found throughout Mexico and on several buildings designed by the late O'Neill Ford. Each boveda will be fitted with a skylight to provide natural light to the lobbby.

About the public art: San Antonio native Chris Sauter has developed a series of public artworks for the new Mission Branch Library based on the themes of history, exploration and discovery. The artworks will use the look and language of archaeology and geology as the primary approaches. They include a mixed-media painting depicting archeological and geological stratification that evokes the rich history of the site, an outdoor sculptural sign made of rammed-earth, and a third art element for the courtyard that is currently under development. He was commissioned by the City of San Antonio, through the Capital Improvement Management Services Department (CIMS) and Public Art San Antonio (PASA), to create the public art for the new library as part of the City’s 2007-2012 Bond Program.

Not paid for at taxpayer expense