A long-awaited project to build a new library in Laurel got its official launch on Wednesday after more than a year of delays.
The building -- a modern structure with walls of windows, an angled roof and a stone and wood exterior -- will replace the city's old library, which was built in 1965.
All that's left standing of that structure is an elevator shaft, which will be razed soon, according to Michael Gannon, the Prince George's County Memorial Library System's chief operating officer for support services.
Construction will take about 15 months, setting the new library's tentative opening date for the fall of 2017, Gannon said. The project had originally been scheduled to break ground in October 2013 but faced multiple complications, including problems with the bidding process, water and sewer permitting and easement transfers.
Once it's complete, the 31,000 square foot library will be a "model for the county," said Prince George's County Councilwoman Mary Lehman, a Democrat whose district includes Laurel.
The project, designed by architecture firm Grimm+Parker, will feature green elements, including solar panels on the roof, permeable pavers in the parking lot and charging stations for electric cars.
Inside, the children's department will have a paleontological theme, according to library system CEO Kathleen Teaze. Lighted dinosaur footprints will guide visitors to the children's room, dubbed "Discovery Island," where kids will get to peer at a replica velociraptor skeleton through the glass floor. Families can have storytime while sitting in a model of a dinosaur's rib cage.
The final project reflects a good deal of local input, said Tom Aylward, the chair of a citizens' advisory committee on the library that met for more than six months and offered recommendations on the library's siting, layout and more.
"I thought the architects really let us contribute," he said.
Lehman said the library's design "references this area -- the city, the neighborhood and its history." Just a few miles away is Dinosaur Park, where scientists work to excavate fossils from the early Cretaceous period.
The new library -- which is nearly twice as big as the old one -- encroaches slightly on the city's Emancipation Park, the former site of the Laurel Grove School, where local African American children went to school before desegregation. In exchange for the land, the county plans to build a new playground, basketball court, picnic pavilion and small amphitheater for the park.
Laurel Mayor Craig Moe called the site "the best location" for the new library.
"The design of the library will meet the needs of the community for many years to come," he said.
Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III hoped the new library might encourage kids to turn off the TV in favor of opening a book.
"Each and every day you get a chance to read, you grow, and that's what life's about -- growing," he said.
Friends of the Laurel Library President Tom Dernoga called the groundbreaking a "relief." Dernoga, a former Prince George's County Councilman, said one of his first meetings, in 2002, was with Friends members requesting support for a new library.
Friends of the Laurel Library member Mike DiFilippo said the building would be a source of pride for the community.
"The thing I love about this library in particular is, being on [Route] 198, it's going to be something so beautiful," DiFilippo said. "Tens of thousands of cars a day are going to see the library."