Boise is about to get a new main library, and it was announced this week that it will be designed by the same person who designed the Salt Lake City Library, Moshe Safdie. 

The Boise City Council has approved a three-month contract with Safddie Architects to develop the concept design for the new the 150,000 square-foot Boise Public Library.

Though it will mean a new building, the location will remain the same.  The five-acre site that currently houses the main Boise Library (which was formerly a hardware warehouse) will also house the new building, which will now offer around 20,000 square-feet of dedicated space for public events and another 20,000 for Boise's Arts and History Department.

The approval allows for an initial $400,000 payment to cover designs (which might include usage of some or all of the existing buildings).  The estimate for the total cost of the building will be between $60 and $70 million dollars.

In a City of Boise put out a press release that quoted Safdie as saying, "The City of Boise has a clear vision for how the new Boise Library can be a gateway to the city."  The new building, if the timeline stays on track, should be completed in late 2021.

You can read more on this at Architects Newspaper.

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