Library Floor Project

The City commissioned a Facilities Condition Analysis (FCA) in 2021 to assess the condition of all City facilities and determine the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of specific facility features and assets. The wood flooring (in both the older Carnegie and newer Lobby areas) was found to be in poor condition and represented potential tripping hazards in the high-traffic library.

Yes! Making sure people can pick up holds has been a top project priority. Other than a partial-day closure on 1/9, and a two-day closure at the end of the project, you will be able to pick up your holds from the Library's Community Room throughout the duration of the project.

After Phase 1 is complete and the Lobby has re-opened, most of the Library’s collections will be available to browse as normal (including the Children's Room, and the Adults and Teen areas upstairs). Some smaller collections that are normally in the older Carnegie section of the Library (such as the Library of Things, Heritage Collection, and Magazines) will not be available.

Unfortunately, no. The Conference and Community Rooms will not be available to reserve during the project. The Community Room is serving as a temporary Circulation Room, and we need to use the Conference Room for additional storage. 

The City reserves funds for future facility repair and replacement needs. Funds for this project will be taken from reserves already in our Community Facilities Fund. The project expenditure was included in the approved 2023-2025 City of Oregon City Biennial Budget.

Unfortunately, no. The flooring in the older section of the library has been refinished multiple times over the past century. Due to its age and the number of prior refinishings, it’s not feasible to refinish it again.

Yes! We know how important the historical character of the Library is to the community, and it's just as important to us! We intend to match the color, layout, and character of the existing floor as closely as possible. In addition, we will extend the flooring into the lobby, so there is additional consistency and integration between the older and newer sections of the Library.

We know how important sustainability and reuse are to the community, so we do plan to salvage some of the flooring and reuse/repurpose it in the future. The condition of the old wood, available offsite storage space, and project cost are factors that will be taken into consideration.

The main priority of the 2016 project was to expand the Library while staying within budget. Another priority was to maintain as many of the historic elements of the Library as possible. With these goals in mind, the decision was made to attempt to get as much life out of the existing floors as possible and to defer replacement.