Thanks to major community support and the efforts of the Whatcom Community Foundation and the Whatcom County Library System, Ferndale will have a new $5 million 15,000-square-foot library in 2014.

Approximately one in 10 Ferndale residents visit the library daily, and the facility serves between 700 to more than 1,000 patrons each day.

Through the Community Foundation, an anonymous donor spurred the building of a new facility with an initial $1 million pledge. Since that time, nearly $2.9 million in private fundraising has gone into this project, along with a $1.25 million pledge from the City Council plus a commitment of public land adjacent to City Hall on Main Street. In 2013, City voters approved a property tax increase that will pay back another $500,000 in bond funding for this project.

This new facility will have at least double the parking of the previous library location and will have a large Community Room that accommodates 80 people plus a conference room for groups of 12 to 14 and two smaller study rooms.

This project went out to bid on July 8, 2013.

Project Cost Estimate Range: $3.9 million to $4.3 million

Documents

• Feasibility Study
• Needs Assessment
• Preliminary Design — 2010 Community Presentation PowerPoint (PDF)
• 75 Percent Cost Estimate — 2011 (PDF)
• Call for Bids Advertisement — Published July 8, 2013
• Project Bid Tab — Published August 9, 2013