Candace BarnetteOfficials from the city of Burbank, California, has selected a firm to manage its $147 million civic center and library overhaul, a downtown transformation project more than 20 years in the making. The company will guide development efforts for the downtown campus transformation, including an upcoming Request for Proposals to source a design and engineering firm.
The project centers on replacing Burbank’s 62-year-old central library with a modern $65 million 87,500-square-foot facility. The new building will feature extensive public amenities including designated areas for children and teens, state-of-the-art coworking spaces, a media lab, makerspaces, performance venues, a cafe and an art gallery. The current library was built in 1963 and city studies identified it as outdated as early as 1989.
Officials designed the new library to serve as a community hub beyond traditional book lending. The children’s area will include dedicated programming space for story time and educational activities. Teen zones will provide separate study and collaboration areas.
The facility will also house digital creation labs and hands-on learning spaces where residents can access technology and creative tools.
The plan includes an $18 million open space plaza covering 52,000 square feet of outdoor community area. City officials envision the plaza as a “living room” for downtown where residents can gather for festivals, concerts and farmers markets. The space will feature flexible seating areas, landscaping and infrastructure to support both daily use and special events. Planners designed the plaza with permanent utilities for vendor setups and temporary structures for seasonal programming.
Another campus addition is a new $28 million underground parking structure that will span the entire civic center block. The multi-level facility will provide round-the-clock access and integrate security systems with above-ground buildings. The below-grade design maximizes parking capacity while preserving surface space for community use.
The city will also spend $15 million upgrading office spaces within the civic center complex. The project consolidates the Management Services Department, Finance Department and other civic functions into the campus to create operational efficiency. Officials say the centralized layout will provide easier public access to city services.
Construction must begin within 18 months to meet a mid-2027 deadline tied to a $9.95 million state library grant. The city will finance the project through Measure P sales tax revenue—approved by voters in 2018—and municipal bonds backed by Burbank’s strong credit rating.
Voters first approved library replacement funding through Measure L in 2003, but the effort stalled without state support. The project gained momentum after Measure P passed, though officials abandoned an original public-private partnership approach due to higher interest rates and construction costs that discouraged private investment.
Photo by Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
