New Library Set to Open in Maple Grove
The new $29 million Maple Grove library is set to open this coming Saturday in the town green. Hennepin County funded the 40,000 square foot project which is a one story contemporary building with a large amount of glass and limestone. The glass and the vaulted ceilings are designed to convey a sense of openness, airiness and connection to the surrounding green space. The designers expect it will become a new community gathering place for Maple Grove home owners and residents.
This new library is three times the size of the old building and includes a 350 space parking ramp. It anchors the Village Green area across the park from the Maple Grove Government Center as it faces Main Street. The library parking ramp will be available for use by visitors to the nearby community center and city band shell this summer. The city of Maple Grove donated the 4.75 acre site to Hennepin County in exchange for funding the project.
While the building has a contemporary look, it was designed as green building from the ground up. It incorporates natural light to reduce energy use. A heat exchanger runs coils into the nearby pond to heat and cool the library air. The designers also have plants growing on the rooftop to reduce the heat buildup and control the rain runoff.
The building is closer to nature, but the library is hi-tech. Conveyor belts will bring returned books to the sorting room where bar codes on the books will send them down more chutes that will eventually stack the books onto a library car to be taken out by a human to the library stacks! An in keeping with the times of faster and less human intervention for checking out at retail location, the library will also host a self-checkout aisle to speed you out the door and get you to your reading quicker!
I am a licensed Realtor in the State of Minnesota. This website is not a multiple listing service, but each Minnesota & Minneapolis real estate agent is a member of the Regional MLS of MN, inc., a provider of the Minnesota MLS.
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