Manatee County Commission Approves $20M Lakewood Ranch Library, Community Center: Report

LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL — Manatee County commissioners approved spending $20 million on the construction of a new library in Lakewood Ranch in a 6-1 vote Tuesday, the Bradenton Herald reported.

The new library will also double as a community center. It should be completed and operating in the community by January 2023.

The 50,000-square-foot two-story library has a rooftop terrace and energy plant. The project’s cost — and scope — has expanded since it was first suggested, reports said.

“When it came up last time and it was right at $20 million, I near about had a heart attack. I couldn’t believe that all of a sudden we were talking about building a $20 million library,” Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who represents Lakewood Ranch, said according to the Herald. “I wasn’t in favor of that, but in all fairness, when I started having these meetings with staff and the county administrator … I realized that the money we’re talking about was not all the library. It’s many things.”

Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge was the sole no vote against the new library, as he’d prefer the county lease space for a new library rather than build a new complex, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

“I don't see long-term stability for a library system at this point,” he said. “The question is do we want to spend millions of dollars building a permanent structure for something, that in my opinion, in 10 years the whole landscape of libraries will be totally different?”