Last week an important event took place in Brambleton, in Loudoun County: Ground was broken on a new, state-of-the-art public library. Community leaders and members of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors came together for the ceremony.
The library would not be possible if it weren’t for Brambleton developer Bill Fox and HGA Architects who, in partnership with the county, will complete the project three years earlier than initially anticipated. A library is badly needed in Brambleton, so this is excellent news indeed. Fox invested a huge chunk of change - $22.3 million - to bring the library to Brambleton. If the county had to fund the project itself, it would have taken much longer to get things moving. Supervisor Tony Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) confirmed to the Loudoun Tribune that the library would not have been possible without Fox, adding that the developer has “bent over backwards to work with the county and libraries to bring this library to Brambleton.”
Supervisor Suzanne Volpe (R-Algonkian) seconded the gratitude for Fox and his contributions: “This is a perfect example of the county working with business. Libraries create synergy and unity in a community,” Volpe said. “We are blessed to have Bill Fox and his team who looked beyond themselves to serve the community. That’s what it means to be a true community partner.”
Fox himself says that he was happy to contribute: “We wanted to make this commitment to the county and to the community,” he told Loudoun Now. “I want to make it very special.”
Under the business agreement that is bringing the library to life, HGA Architects will design, build, and furnish the library. The county will then lease the library from Brambleton, taking ownership of it in the 2020 fiscal year after paying Brambleton a $7.1 million development fee.
Right now, Brambleton residents have to visit the Ashburn and Gum Spring libraries, which overburdens these facilities. When the Brambleton library is completed, the town will have over one million books of its own.
The plans for the Brambleton Library call for a beautiful structure with sweeping glass windows, platform stairs that can also serve as seating, “programming areas, recording/mixing studios, expanded children’s play area with the potential for an outdoor space, expanded Hindi/international book collections, more private study rooms than any other Loudoun County library and a gaming room off of the planned teen space on the second level” according to the Tribune. The library will occupy two floors of a four-story building in the midst of Brambleton’s popular town center and will take up 40,000 square feet.
