Waveland to build two city buildings
The $2.6 million Waveland Public Library is one of two major municipal construction projects planned for the downtown area of Waveland, Miss. Officials broke ground on the library in July and on the second project, the Waveland Police Department, in August. (Rendering courtesy BDA Architects)
Hancock Library System Executive Director Patty Furr said the Waveland Public Library, which was only four years old when Hurricane Katrina made landfall, was destroyed by a 30-foot wave during the storm. The library has been operating in a trailer for about a year, stocked with books provided by a donation from the Gates Foundation.
Officials broke ground on the new library in July. It will be at the corner of Central and Coleman avenues near the Gulf of Mexico. The estimated completion date is June 30.
The $2.6 million project will be paid for through a combination of sources including a federal community development block grant and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
BDA Architects of Gulfport, Miss., is designing the project. The contractor is Construction Services Inc. of D’Iberville, Miss. The new library will be about 8,000 square feet.
“The libraries are part of the overall economic development of the community,” Furr said. “When the libraries are rebuilt, you will see a lot of people return. People want to see infrastructure.”
Furr said demand for books in Waveland is high. Even the trailer library features twice the circulation (about 10,000 books) of the library that was destroyed by Katrina.
Furr said a second library, the Pearlington Public Library, will be built in Hancock County. She expects construction to begin in the next 12 to 18 months.
Downtown’s second major construction project, the Waveland Police Station, will be on McLaurin Street. Officials broke ground on the project Aug. 15, said Waveland Police Chief James Varnell. Like the library, the police station was destroyed during Katrina.
“We didn’t have anything left,” Varnell said.
The new police station will be 12,000 square feet, an expansion over the previous station, which was about 8,000 square feet.
It will be designed for emergency operations in the event of another major storm. The building will be able to withstand 200 mph winds and will be 23 feet higher than the station was before Katrina.
Nofie Alphonso Architects of Kenner, La., designed the building to have a brick façade so it blends in with the residential area.
“It (the new location) puts us right in the middle of the community. We’ll be in more of a neighborhood setting,” Varnell said. “It’ll look more like a residence than a police station.”
Officials have yet to award the construction contract for the project. Varnell said bids will go out in October.
The project is expected to take one year and should be complete by October 2010.
The funding comes from a combination of insurance money and FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
