PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove Library and its separate Children's Library will have a new home in 2018 and all will be under the same roof.
City Council last week authorized Mayor Sonny Hudson to enter into a contract to purchase the former Walmart Express building on Buchanan Street from Harps Food Stores Inc.
The city will pay $775,000 for the 15,000-square-foot building, with Harps turning around and making a $125,000 donation back to the city.
Hudson said the city will pay the net cost of $650,000 with $250,000 from its library expansion fund, $200,000 from its reserve account and a $300,000 bank loan. He is contacting banks to check on interest rates.
That will leave the city with some extra money to pay costs to convert the former grocery store to a public library building, Hudson said.
Hudson said he has talked to Harps for some time about purchasing the building and began serious negotiations after Arvest Bank sold its downtown building to Prairie Grove School District. The city at one time had hoped to purchase the Arvest building for a new library.
He does not have a time frame on when a new library will open. The purchase includes equipment inside the store and Hudson said the city will sell those items to help bring down its costs. Items to sell include lots of shelving, a large oven and refrigeration cases.
He is not sure what the city will do about the gas station on the property. The city will register it as inactive but it's possible one of the pumps may be used to provide fuel for municipal vehicles.
"We're not forced to do anything with it unless we choose to," Hudson said.
If the city does not use it, he said it will be turned into a nice area for employees and the public.
"We'll figure something out," Hudson added.
Besides making changes on the inside, Hudson said exterior work will include signs, painting and other cosmetic improvements to make the building look like a library and not a Walmart grocery store.
The building will have a separate children's area but one benefit is that all library employees will be under one roof. This way, Hudson said, they can help each other.
Iva Sorrell, Prairie Grove Library director, said her staff is looking forward to the new building.
"We're excited," Sorrell said. "We can't wait to be under one roof. We have programs lined up and it will be wonderful to be able to do those."
The two libraries have three full-time staff members. Megan Wood serves as director of the children's library.
Sorrell said she believes the new location on the western end of town will be a better one because the city seems to be growing that direction. In addition, the library will have a lot more parking for patrons.
The oldest part of Prairie Grove Public Library was built in 1966, with the latest expansion made in 1996. The children's library opened in 2006 in a building formerly used as a post office and by Life Ministries.
For many years, Sorrell has talked about the need for either a new library building or expanding the existing facility.
The Prairie Grove Walmart Express was the first one of that format to be opened by Walmart Stores in June 2011. Walmart closed its Express stores in January 2016 and Harps purchased nine of the closed stores in June 2018.
General News on 12/27/2017