A $2.2 million expansion project to ease overcrowding and serve Huron Public Library patrons well into the future officially got under way with a Thursday groundbreaking ceremony.

“A healthy and vibrant library is a strong symbol of the vitality and strength of our community,” said Peggy Woolridge, executive director of the Huron Chamber & Visitors Bureau.

Gil Haugen Construction Co. of Sioux Falls is expected to complete the project by early June 2009.

While city officials have been considering an expansion project for at least a decade, serious planning began about three years ago, first during the administration of Mayor Mary Pearson and then into the term of current Mayor David McGirr.

The beautiful building has served the community well for more than 40 years, but the time has come to expand and remodel, McGirr said.

With its flexible design, “it’s been easy to adapt and use over the years and decades that have gone by,” he said.

Koch Hazard Architects of Sioux Falls has come up with plans for the addition that will likely make it just as usable 40 years from now as it will be when the project is done, he said.

“It will literally look like a new library,” McGirr said.

Huron’s library had humble beginnings in 1883 when a reading club was formed. Members had $38 to purchase library materials, while donations of books were also accepted, said Julie Hill, president of the Huron Library Board.

A Carnegie Library was constructed at Fifth Street and Dakota Avenue South in 1908 and was replaced by the existing library in 1966. One of the library board members in 1966 was John W. Keller Sr., father-in-law of current board vice president Mary Keller.

But after 42 years, the building is bulging at the seams.

“The additional space will be greatly appreciated and will offer more library opportunities for the Huron community,” Hill said.

Funding for the project is coming from three sources, said commissioner Dale Schneider, liaison with the library board.

The city is spending $1,350,000 in second penny sales tax revenues. The Friends of the Library is contributing $600,000, and a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant was secured.

“We’ve got the money to pay for this building,” Schneider said. “We do not have to sell bonds.”

Librarian Colleen Smith said the building will have a geothermal heating and cooling system. Fifty well holes will be dug south of the library.

“The geothermal system should provide comfort for much less money on an annual basis for many years to come,” she said.

The entrance will be relocated and the circulation area will be accessible from all directions. There will be an expanded children’s area, wireless Internet access, public access computers, a coffee bar in the greeting area and an expanded Spanish collection.

The South Dakota collection will have its own room for quiet research and security.

Smith said library patrons will experience some inconveniences throughout the construction.

“As construction proceeds, we’ll be doing a lot of moving around inside the building, and from time to time, the library might be closed for a few days,” she said.

If people believe libraries are obsolete, they might be surprised to learn that the Huron Public Library is enjoying record usage.

“So it’s becoming even more relevant in this day and age, and the library has changed with the times,” McGirr said.

Smith thanked the City Commission, Huron Library Board, Friends of the Library and the Huron Parks and Recreation Department, which did a lot of preparatory work, such as moving the Veterans Memorial and Memory Rose Garden and excavating concrete. Two trees were removed and one was relocated within Campbell Park.

Schneider said unfortunately two large, mature trees along Dakota Avenue South will also have to come down to make way for the east entrance and the geothermal system.

Next year, the city plans to widen and convert California Avenue S.W. on the west side of the library into a two-way street. The parking configuration is uncertain at this point, although the off-street parking lot will also be expanded.

A two-way street will also improve access to and from Huron Event Center and Huron Arena.

Huron’s library offers so many tremendous resources and services, said Woolridge.

“This project sends a message that, as a community, education and life-long learning, information, self-improvement, literacy, all those things are very important to us and it’s also important to our future,” she said.