Newhall Library Site Plan & Update

City Briefs posted a neat aerial shot of the Newhall library site that instantly made me think back to what the site used to look like. Here’s how the site appeared on June 2:

and how it appeared just a year or two ago in this aerial shot from Bing maps:

In this shot you can clearly see the old, run down auto yard on the corner of Railroad and Lyons. For years the auto yard was covered on the south side by a ratty old fence and a strip of torn plastic that would flutter in the wind. Now that building and the nasty fence is gone.

The same is true for the dog groomer/piercing shop that sat at the west end of Spruce street. The City went through a lot of hassle to get that property and tear it down; in the end I think the owner walked away with some cash.

When the demolition crew went through the area about a year ago, they managed to leave the old Newhall jailhouse untouched; you can see it in the latest shot cocooned safely out of the construction zone. The building that was immediately adjacent was another car parts store.

And of course the Hart theater/American Legion hall has been spared.

So what will the Newhall library look like once it’s all built out? We’ve already seen the PDF interior renderings (quite impressive with lots of local tie-ins) but what about the landscaping and outside?

I pinged the City and here’s what the site plan looks like:

This being Santa Clarita, where we feel entitled to free & convenient car storage everywhere and at all times, most of the rest of the lot will be parking.

But you can kind of see hints of a nice courtyard area north of the library  between the old jail  house and the American legion building. The south side of the building will but up against Lyons Avenue and face down Main Street.

Indeed, another site plan, this one in color but seemingly older (the parking lot is smaller) shows a courtyard on the northside with a nice water feature:

Intriguingly, this site plan shows an “Obelisk/Feature” on the south side at the junction of Lyons & Main Street. Will this be the location of Laurie Ender’s Ronald Reagan statue? The obelisk from 2001? A statue promoting reading and literacy? A monument establishing Newhall’s dominance and grandeur over all? Your guess is as good as mine.

Early on people were nay-saying the design of the library because the front faces north to 11th street rather than south to Main Street, which the library is supposed to anchor. But there clearly will be a south/Lyons Side entrance to the facility and it looks like plenty of shade and an attractive median to boot. I think that’s a fair compromise.