Modern Architecture in Public: Cultural Center & Library in Pompano Beach, Florida

What is it:
  New two-story, 46,000 sf library, cultural center building and civic campus adjacent to City Hall, replacing the old library on E. Atlantic Boulevard open from 1952 until November 2017.
  The new facility features a standard library, media labs, 5,000sf of theater/flex event space and an exhibition gallery of 750sf. Construction included also a multipurpose room, three tutoring rooms, a group study room, conference room, storytelling/program room, computer lab and the Teen Tech Studio, which is designed to encourage young adults to creatively explore digital media.
  The new library houses a collection of approximately 50,000 items including books, DVDs, CDs, publications and reference materials.
  Site improvements included a new civic plaza featuring raised planter areas, street furniture, a lightning bolt plaza and a new paved breezeway connecting the parking areas to the civic plaza.

What's its purpose:
  Located at the heart of a community where the average annual income is under $40,000 per family, the Pompano Beach Cultural Center & Library was developed to provide broad access to knowledge, technology, and 21st century tools for creativity. To that end the project was developed to combine the richness of a state-of-the-art public library, that is equal parts children and adult services, with a cutting-edge cultural arts and media center.
  This combination gives shape to a one-of-a-kind innovative teaching and learning center unprecedented in the public realm. For two different sets of clients, budgets, and management teams the programs are uniquely separate but symbiotic, and are arranged to complement one another, promoting innovation and collaboration. The technology at the library is intended to introduce users of all ages to new media with spaces such as the YouMedia lab for kids. At the Cultural Arts and Media Center, the public has access to production spaces and advanced classes enabling entrepreneurial activities and collaborative projects. (via MPdL)
  The original vision for the library did not include the cultural center, which was added during planning. When Redevelopment Management Associates (RMA) was engaged as the Executive Director of the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, they placed an emphasis on arts and culture venues for reinventing the Old Town Pompano Beach area, and residents overwhelmingly favored including the cultural center in the project.

Details:
25,000 sf Public Library; 21,000 sf Cultural Arts and Media Center
Architects: Silva Architects with MPdL Studio
Completed: 2018
Construction cost: $19.7 million, with about half of that amount going toward each facility. Funding for the project came from Broward County, the City of Pompano Beach and the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. The library is located on land owned by the City of Pompano Beach. The County will occupy the library space via a 50-year lease with the City, with a 50-year option to renew.
Contractor: OHL Building, Miami (with CBI and NV2A)
Achieved LEED Gold Certification
    
Awards:
2017 Unbuilt Merit Award, AIA Miami Design Awards
2019 AIA FL Merit Award of Excellence for New Work
2019 AIA Miami Design Award

Hours:
(please verify Covid-19-influenced hours and admission conditions before you go)
10a – 6p Monday – Saturday
Closed Sundays
954.357.7595 or 954.545.7800

Events calendar:
https://www.pompanobeacharts.org/cc

Note:
The popular Pompano Green Market will restart on Nov 13, 2021, from 9a to 2p, and from there on (hopefully) every 2nd and 4th Saturday.
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Have you been at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center and Library? Do you like it – or what is your impression?