Plans for a new Pocomoke library continue to advance with county staff members reporting last week that the $8.1 project is expected to go to bid in August or September.
A rendering shows the proposed design of the new Pocomoke Library branch.
Courtesy rendering
By Charlene Sharpe, Associate Editor
Plans for a new Pocomoke library continue to advance.
In an update last week, county staff said the $8.1 project was expected to go to bid in August or September.
“Let’s get it done,” Commissioner Chip Bertino said.
Worcester County Library officials have been working for years on plans for a new Pocomoke library. With last month’s news that the state was providing $3.99 million toward construction, the project is moving ahead.
Procurement Officer Nicholas Rice told the commissioners this week that the $3.99 million did require a 100% match from the county. He said the county had that funding available. The latest cost estimates from Whiting Turner and Keller put the project price tag at $8,140,030. Rice said that included $400,000 to $500,000 in value engineering. He added, however, that he thought there was another $100,000 that could be value engineered down.
“The project right now is planned to go to bid in August or September,” he said. “That’s when we would come before the commissioners with actual construction numbers.”
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the library update.
The new Pocomoke library will be a 12,365-square foot building on the current site. The library is described as being open and airy and will include gallery space, community space and reading areas. The design will allow for multipurpose meeting space that will be able to be open for the community when the library area of the building is closed. The site plan also features a children’s porch as well as a raingardens.
The goal is for the new facility to be open in late 2025 or early 2026.