After years of thwarted expansion plans and legal entanglements over the ownership of the Island House in Elk Rapids, the Elk Rapids District Library – located on the property for 75 years – is eyeing a new home. Library trustees and representatives from architectural firm Quinn Evans presented plans last week to purchase the former Traverse Bay Manufacturing building on Cairn Highway and convert it into a new 13,000-square-foot library. Officials said the $10.4 million project could be completed in phases if needed and would provide expanded indoor and outdoor spaces for reading, youth and adult rooms, improved parking and accessibility, and community programming.

Library Director Pam Williams began the public presentation on the potential move by noting the library has a “rich history” dating back decades, with the library finding its home on the Island House in 1949 thanks to a donation from Katharine Dexter McCormick. “To address the challenges that came with hosting a library in the old house, renovations in the 1970s, the 1990s, and nearly in 2020 have attempted to increase the island house footprint,” she said. “Specifically, over the last decade, there have been ongoing efforts to address the space limitations of the Island House. Strategic plans in 2014, 2017, and 2023 identified pressing issues such as insufficient space for books, programming, and parking – and accessibility challenges.”

Attempts to expand the library in recent years “faced resistance from citizens who were opposed to altering the historical footprint of the island and the Island House,” Williams acknowledged. An ensuing legal dispute over the title of the property between the Village of Elk Rapids and Elk Rapids Township was eventually resolved, allowing the library to potentially move forward with an expansion, Williams said. But the estimated $7 million project would represent an investment into “a building we did not own,” she noted.

Library trustees began exploring other potential sites. “When the Traverse Bay Manufacturing building became available, the building committee considered it as a viable location for the library due to its strategic positioning relative to municipalities, schools, and its ample space for community use,” said Williams. The property covers more than three acres and has over 16,000 square feet of space on a single level, with concrete walls and flooring that present “a blank canvas for potential renovation,” Williams said. She added the location would allow the library to serve as an “anchor for the village” and build on a nearly $2 million project the village is undertaking to revitalize the Ames Street corridor (Ames Street becomes Cairn Highway).

Library trustees signed an option for the building in July, putting its sale on hold for 180 days while the board conducted due diligence. Last week, the board voted to authorize the building purchase for $1.2 million. The library is using a “combination of proceeds from the previous campaign effort, new gifts and pledges from donors, the board of trustees and the Friends of the Library, and unrestricted non-operational reserve funds to purchase the property,” according to a library FAQ.

The board vote to purchase the building came after engaging architectural firm Quinn Evans to study the feasibility of converting the property to a new library. The firm has worked on multiple other library projects – including the Glen Lake Community Library in Empire – and determined the Traverse Bay Manufacturing building could be converted into a new facility that would meet all of the library’s needs at an estimated cost of $9.2 million. That cost is in addition to the $1.2 million purchase price. The Quinn Evans presentation showed proposed amenities including multiple study rooms, youth, teen, and adult spaces, a multi-purpose community room that could be accessed for after-hours programming, a kitchen, a drive-up book drop-off area, staff rooms, outdoor patio areas, a story trail, and natural areas and paths outdoors for walking through the site’s scenic wetlands and rolling terrain. The plans also showed 35 parking spaces and areas for school buses to park and drop off/pick up students.

“Variety is really what’s so important in these buildings,” said Quinn Evans Principal Ann Dilcher, pointing to the differing sizes of programming spaces proposed throughout the site. She noted: “We would tell you if we thought there was no way something can work in this building. But we do feel like it can lay out fairly well for a nice library, about 13,000 square feet.” The $9.2 million build estimate represents an “all-in” cost, Dilcher said – encompassing everything from construction and relocation expenses to engineering and architectural services to furnishing and technology.

The Elk Rapids District Library could also take a phased approach – with options presented at $8 million and $7.2 million – that would eliminate some amenities early on but allow them to be built in the future. All costs are reflective of an anticipated 2026 groundbreaking, Dilcher said, incorporating anticipated pricing that year. That timeline would put the new library on track for a summer 2027 opening. Trustees and architects emphasized that initial designs are conceptual and will be fleshed out in the coming months through extensive community input.

The next step is for the Elk Rapids District Library to complete a fundraising feasibility study, which will be done this spring in partnership with the Breton Group. That will determine the likely initial amount trustees could raise and fundraising options, ranging from grants to donations to a potential millage request. Project documents indicate fundraising could begin in the second quarter this year.

“In the event that the community does not support the renovation and expansion cost of the proposed design, library leadership would have the option to sell the property,” the library FAQ states. The future of the Island House will be up to the village of Elk Rapids, according to the FAQ, with a deed restriction stating the property must be “suitable and adaptable for public use as a park, library, place of assembly, village hall or for community center purposes generally, presented for use and benefit of the village and its residents for any or all the uses or purposes mentioned above.” The property “shall not be used as a hospital, nursing home, convalescent home, home for the aged, or for any similar institution or purpose,” the deed language notes.

Elk Rapids residents and library trustees were enthusiastic about the proposal at the presentation. Trustee Emily Petrovich thanked Quinn Evans for “putting our dream on paper,” while other trustees said the new library would be a “fantastic addition to the community” and that Elk Rapids is “worth this investment.” 

Photo credit: Quinn Evans