PORT ST. LUCIE — The Port St. Lucie Branch Library will close Saturday, Aug. 30, as St. Lucie County prepares to demolish the current building and construct a new, state-of-the-art facility in its place.
“The Port St. Lucie Branch Library is being closed for, I would say renovations, but it’s actually a reconstruction project,” said Erick Gill, communications director for St. Lucie County. “We’re going to be demolishing the current building and rebuilding a new library in that spot where it’s at now. And we don’t have an estimated time frame of how long that’s going to be closed because this is such a major renovation project. We don’t really want to put a timeline on it.”
The new library will be more than 10,000 square feet, nearly four times larger than the current facility. Built in 1974, the branch began as 1,400 square feet before expanding to 4,400 square feet in 1987.
“The Port St. Lucie Branch Library is the city’s oldest library. It was built in 1974 and it was the smallest library. It’s only 1,400 square feet. And so it’s going to be almost four times that. The new library will be expanded to more than 10,000 square feet,” Gill said.
The $7.8 million project is funded by capital improvement funds, library impact fees and a donation from the Friends of the St. Lucie County Library. Plans call for a 50,000-item collection, a program room, two quiet study spaces and a “maker” space with technology such as 3D printers, podcast equipment and VR headsets. The library is expected to open in 2027.
“As Port St. Lucie’s population has grown, we want to make sure we’re keeping up with the services, and it’s easier to build right there on the property we already own than go look for more land and build a new library somewhere else,” Gill said.
While the Prima Vista Boulevard branch is closed, residents can use any of the county’s five other library branches, including the nearby Pruitt Campus and Morningside libraries. A book vending machine is also available at the Port St. Lucie Community Center, 2195 SE Airoso Blvd., daily from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“We’re working to put in some utility lockers where residents could still go online and reserve a book and then go check it out from the locker there on site,” Gill said. “But we just need to get the space clear to make sure that it’s not going to impede with any of the construction that’s going on.”
Gill said the project reflects the growing demand for modern library spaces.
“Obviously, space for the programming that goes on,” he said. “A lot of our libraries now, we’re looking to add more technology-driven spaces where there’s computer equipment that people can come in and use, whether that’s using microphones and software equipment to record their own podcast or experience with 3D printers or VR headsets. So all that will be combined in the new library space once it’s open.”
Gill added that libraries are more than just buildings with books.
“It builds not only literacy skills, but social interactions in a place of community. And that’s what we hope this newly renovated library will do for the residents there on Prima Vista and the surrounding area,” he said.
For more information about St. Lucie County libraries and programs, visit their website.