Construction begins on new Epps Memorial Library in Calcasieu Parish – American Press
Work begins on the new Calcasieu Parish Epps Memorial Library
Published on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, 04:36
- The new Epps Memorial Library is scheduled for completion in August 2025. Above is a computer rendering. (Special to the American Press)
By this time next year, the North Lake Charles community will have a new $2.3 million, 7,000-square-foot library with books, media, reading areas, study rooms, meeting spaces and expanded parking.
The announcement was celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, and construction crews were ready to begin work on the new Calcasieu Parish Epps Memorial Library at 1320 Simmons Street immediately upon completion. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Chairman Anthony Bartie said the parish has worked diligently to permanently return this facility to its former location.
“Public libraries like Epps Library are an important and necessary hub,” Bartie said. “Within a community, they are not only a source of information, but they are often the social source of cultural health for that community, helping to fill the gap in the most underserved areas.”
Mike Smith, CPPJ District 2, said he thought “this day would never come.”
He recalled his excitement as a boy when he came around the corner and saw work being done on the first library built in the 1970s.
“It will be a real asset,” he said, “a place where the community can gather.”
The Epps Memorial Library, built in 2008, was damaged by the 2020 hurricanes, according to Smith. The community received insurance money to begin repairs, but once work began, it was determined the damage was too extensive. Then the wait for FEMA money began, according to Smith.
Marjorie Harrison, executive director of the Calcasieu Parish Library, said the Epps Library has always been a “thriving” library. In 2019, it had 27,000 visitors and hosted over 1,100 programs with over 14,000 participants. Over 28,000 items were checked out from the library and the meeting room was used 883 times.
The project contractor is K & J Development of SWLA. The architect is David Brossett of Brossett Architect LLC.
The Epps Memorial Library is named after Rochelle Rigmaiden Epps, who served on the Consolidated Parish Library Board and was instrumental in the construction of the first library on Simmons Street, which opened in 1976.
