York County Breaks Ground for New Fort Mill Public Library
June 3, 1998

Ground was broken today for the new Fort Mill Public Library, a 11,620-square-foot branch of the York County Library System to be built on Highway 160 in Fort Mill. Construction will begin immediately on the new facility with the opening slated for February 1999.

Participating in the ground-breaking ceremony were members of the York County Council, including Carl Gullick, chairman, and Mike Short, vice chairman. Also on hand were Craig Killian, York County manager, James Traynor, president of Clear Springs Development Co., and David Lyon, director of the York County Library System.

According to Lyon, the long-anticipated library is the culmination of close cooperation between the public and private sectors in the Fort Mill area and will open at a critical time for York County residents.

"The County Council, the York County Library System, the Clear Spring Development Company, the Close Family and many others have worked long and hard to bring this project to fruition and it comes not a moment too soon," Lyon said. "We have completely outgrown the current 4,000-square-foot Fort Mill Library branch. Incredibly enough, this branch checks out more books per year -- 118,300 -- than 13 other county library systems in the state."

"This library has been under discussion for a long time and the members of the County Council are extremely pleased to see it beginning to take shape," said Gullick. "We strongly support the development of educational resources in the county and we know this library will be well used by Fort Mill residents of all ages."

The new library, designed by Earle Gaulden of Craig Gaulden & Davis Architects of Greenville, S. C., will have a capacity for more than 80,000 volumes, double the current branch's capacity. In addition, the library will feature a 1,000-square-foot community meeting room, 16 to 18 personal computer stations with Internet access and CD-ROM capabilities, along with an enlarged collection of magazines, books-on-tape and reference volumes. General contractor for the project is Superior Construction Co. of Matthews, N. C.

The two-story structure is designed to accommodate future library expansion of up to 7,000 square feet on the first floor. The 8,800-square-foot second floor will provide office space for York County departments as well as other office users. The land for the library was donated by the Close family of Fort Mill and is located at the entrance to the Village of Baxter, the first phase of a new traditional neighborhood under construction by Clear Springs Development.
"We are honored to be involved in this worthwhile project," Traynor said. "The library will be a handsome and well-used civic building that is conveniently located for all Fort Mill residents."

The total construction cost of the library is estimated to be $1.9 million. Once operational, the library will be managed by Mary Windell and staffed by seven full-time and one part-time employee. Other branches in the York County Library System are located in Clover, York, Lake Wylie and Rock Hill. In addition, the County operates a book mobile.