Pair of library district projects near conclusion

A pair of multimillion-dollar construction projects for the Springfield-Greene County Library District are close to making their public debuts.

The first expected to come online is the Hatch Auditorium, a roughly $8.2 million project at the Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell Ave. Branco Enterprises Inc. is the construction manager at risk for the 9,340-square-foot auditorium designed by Sapp Design Associates Architects Inc. While library officials say a Jan. 16-18 celebration, which includes concerts, will serve as its grand opening, another event will open the facility Dec. 2.

“Local Voices, Local Decisions,” which includes an interactive panel discussion with local legislators, policy experts and community leaders, will serve as a soft opening for the facility, said Vickie Hicks, community relations director with the library district. She said the district officially takes possession of the auditorium from Branco on Nov. 28.

Hatch Auditorium will have 500 seats at the west end of the Library Center. The library branch currently has 13 meeting spaces, with the largest room fitting 100 people, officials say. The Hatch Foundation contributed $600,000 as a naming-level donation to the auditorium project, with $200,000 coming from Friends of the Library, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Additionally, $300,000 of a $2.34 million estate gift from the late Ava Louise Gager Smith is being used by the Library Foundation for the auditorium. Its lobby is being named in her honor.

“When we put in the retractable seats, we were just blown away by them,” Hicks said. “It’s going to be such a great community space, and we really think we’re going to have interest both for library usage but also renting that space for the nonprofit and business community.”

Hicks said Stephanie Hornickel was recently hired by the library district to serve as events space coordinator to aid in promoting the auditorium to the community.

A bigger branch
As the Hatch Auditorium debuts next month, January is expected to mark the launch of the new Republic Branch Library. The 22,000-square-foot building is nearing conclusion of its first phase, which will allow patrons to access the facility by Jan. 20, said Tysha Shay, manager of the Republic branch. The new branch is under construction on the same property where the current facility operates at 921 N. Lindsey Ave.

Nabholz Construction Corp. is serving as general contractor for the project designed by Paragon Architecture LLC. The new branch will more than double its existing space and is being tackled in two phases. It will feature a 150-seat auditorium, expanded youth services section that has a much larger children’s area with a dedicated story time space and an adjoining teen area, Shay said. Additionally, it will include six meeting rooms, a makerspace for patrons to create recordings, music and videos, an outdoor patio and a nature walking trail, according to past reporting.

“Our big auditorium will not be able to be used until we officially finish the entire project because Phase II of the project is demolishing our existing branch and making that required parking,” she said, adding the project cost is estimated at $11.1 million, which includes furniture and equipment. “We’ll still be a construction site through the end of April.”

The Friends of the Library provided a $500,000 gift for naming rights to the auditorium, Shay said, while one of the facility’s meeting rooms is named for the Arvest Foundation, after it provided a $10,000 donation.

A grand opening for the completed facility is set for June 1, Shay said, noting Dec. 6 will be the last day of operations in the current branch. That day at the library will involve a special event commemorating the end of the facility it has occupied since 2009.

“We’re going to have a human book chain where we pass materials from the old branch to the new branch,” she said, adding the event also will include a story time and refreshments. 

After that, Shay said in-branch visits will temporarily cease until the planned Jan. 20 new branch opening. Drive-up window service will be available Jan. 5-16.

“Our community has just been so supportive and encouraging this whole time for us, and they are very excited to see the new building,” she said. “When they see it, I think they’re just going to be blown away. It was very beautifully designed.”

Meeting needs
The opening of the Hatch Auditorium will serve the need for larger-capacity events at the library, Hicks said, noting the retractable seats will allow for open-floor seating. She said the facility will provide seating for around 200 for meals. The library has hosted events such as the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Good Morning, Springfield! the past couple of years which Hicks said has required effort to accommodate the roughly 400 people the gatherings have drawn.

“Our programming needs are just so huge. We’ve outgrown the 100-seat auditorium that we had,” she said. “Now we have a dedicated space, so we don’t have to worry about relocating half the library.”

Library district officials say American Rescue Plan Act funds secured three years ago are helping finance the projects. The Republic branch received around $5 million, while $4 million went to the Library Center.

The Hatch Auditorium and Republic Branch Library openings will mark the final major projects the library district began tackling in 2024. The first of the three projects involved renovations and upgrades at the Midtown Carnegie Branch. The branch at 397 E. Central St. closed in May 2024 and reopened in June 2025 for the $4.5 million project for which Crossland Construction Co. Inc. served as general contractor and Dake Wells Architecture Inc. was the architect.

The project, in part, provided a new library entrance, designed to offer accessible pathways to each floor of the library, including restored access to the elevator. The 30,000-square-foot building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system also was replaced and modernized, according to past reporting.

Shay said for the Republic branch’s staff, there’s both excitement and a little bit of terror with the new facility opening.

“It’s always a challenge to face all the unknowns,” she said. “We don’t know exactly how things are going to go when we are set to move our whole collection. We’re not exactly for sure how things are going to work when we move to the new branch with all of our new workflow processes and things like that.

“But in general, we’re extremely excited.”