by James Coulter
The City of Lake Wales will be considering two agreements to aid renovations to the Lake Wales Public Library.
At a work session meeting on Wed. Feb. 26, 2025, Lake Wales city commissioners reviewed two agenda items concerning library renovations.
The first proposal was for a piggyback agreement with Library Interiors of Florida for shelving reconfiguration of the adult book collection “due to the library redesign,” Library DirectorBelle Reynoso wrote in the city agenda memo.
The second proposal would be to award the bid to Qualis General Contractors for the library renovations.
For the first proposal, Library Interiors of Florida was chosen due to its extensive work with other libraries within the county, as well as its overall expertise and professionalism.
“Library Interiors of Florida are professionals who know the protocols of working in libraries while open for service,” Reynoso wrote. “They have included the reuse of many of our existing shelf and furniture components in this quote.”
If approved, the City will expend $138,825 from the Library’s impact fees for this agreement.
The second proposal will be to award the bid for library renovations to Qualis General Contractors, which was one of six interested parties that had responded to an invitation bid issued by the City on Tues. Jan. 21, 2025.
Qualis General Contractors was chosen over the lowest bidder, as the lowest bidder “did not include substantial items” as detailed within the invitation to bid, with these items including the structural steel, carpet, and the movable partition.
The library renovations will include a “new and improved multipurpose room” that will help meet increased demand, especially with an increase of “40-50 library programs per month using the meeting room.”
“Due to significant business and residential growth within the city, the demand for extra space has never been higher than in the past couple of years,” Reynoso wrote. “With an average of 40-50 library programs per month using the meeting room, public requests are often left without a space to conduct their business.”
City Commissioner Robin Gibson inquired about what the redesign would entail. Reynoso replied the redesign will add three new rooms, with a new teen room and a multipurpose room with a partition in the middle to create separate study rooms.
Commissioner Gibson asked if the redesign would “take advantage” of the library’s view of Crystal Lake. Reynosoreplied the view had not been factored into Phase 1 of renovations, but will be in Phase 2.
Both agenda items will be reviewed and voted upon at the next regular meeting on Tues. Mar. 4 at 6 PM at Lake Wales City Hall, located at 201 W Central Ave.
