A renovation of the Wheaton Library was first submitted and approved by the County Executive and the County Council during the FY05-10 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget cycle. An update to the project was submitted by the Department and approved by Council and the Executive during the FY07-12 CIP cycle.  With the renovation scheduled to begin in July 2009, the Library Department had discussions with Council during the CIP departmental review in the spring of 2008 about the possibility of a new library being built in the Central Business District.  However, neither the location nor the timetable for a new library was known.  Because the County Executive was interested in investigating further a relocation of the Wheaton Library, the County Council removed the Wheaton Library renovation project from the list of FY09-14 approved projects and asked the County Executive and Department staff to return to Council for project approval when a decision on the type of project needed for the Wheaton Library was known. 

In 2008, the County hired the International Downtown Association to assemble an expert panel to provide advice on how government facilities might be used to foster redevelopment in the Central Business District of Wheaton.  After four days of observing and listening to Wheaton stakeholders, the panel recommended that a library be located adjacent to a new Town Square and be developed in combination with an arts/cultural center. 

The Library Department held a public meeting on February 9, 2009, to hear the pros and cons from the Wheaton Library community on renovating the current facility or relocating the current library to a location in the Central Business District.  Read the notes from that public meeting.

The Library Department also provided an email address and comment cards to the audience so that additional input could be provided and so that residents who were not able to attend the 2/9/09 meeting could provide their opinions. The email address was active through 3/16/09 and received more than 200 comments. Residents in some communities and with some community organizations circulated petitions. We have summarized those email comments. People attending the meeting supplied these comments on cards.

A downtown library for Wheaton is still conceptual. The County does not have a site for a downtown library, nor have the features of a new library been studied.  Public input would be solicited at every step of the process.

NEXT STEPS: With the approval of the County Executive, the Redevelopment Office would proceed with the steps necessary to contract with a Master Development Team. The current economic recession is a good time to plan.  Exploring a library in the context of redevelopment presents opportunities to expand a library both in terms of size and function.  Redevelopment would take at least five years.

The County Executive may recommend a capital improvement project for Wheaton Library during the FY11-16 Capital Improvement Program process to either do a mini-renovation (to extend the building “life” five to seven years) or to do a major renovation of the building or to build a completely new building on a new site.

Residents may provide feedback to the County Executive by emailing him at ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov.  Or send your Comments to the Library Department.