April move-in date for renovated library

Construction at the Pitkin County Library is in full-swing, and officials expect to begin moving back into the building in April, the county’s facilities manager said Tuesday.

The $14.3 million renovation — which added about 7,000 additional square feet to the building on Mill Street across from the Hotel Jerome — began in February. Construction began in earnest in April when library facilities temporarily moved to the old Aspen Art Museum.

As of Tuesday, new skylights have been installed, which made a “huge difference” in the amount of light inside the building, and about 80 construction workers were in the process of completing the project, Jodi Smith, the county’s facilities manager, told Pitkin County commissioners.

Movers are scheduled to begin moving 30,000 square feet of books and shelves, as well as furniture, back into the building April 11, Smith said. The move should be complete by May, she said.