Phil Castle, The Business Times

Construction is scheduled for completion next year on what will be the second largest Mesa County Libraries branch to accommodate the second-busiest operation.

Michelle Boisvenue-Fox, director of the Mesa County Libraries, officiated over a groundbreaking ceremony for the Clifton Branch Library. “This is a great day for a groundbreaking. This is a pretty special time for our county,” she said.

The library will be built at 3270 D 1/2 Road on a 27-acre campus that also will include a community hall, childhood education center and training center.  

A separate groundbreaking ceremony for the campus was conducted eight days after the event for the library.

Construction on the library is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2023. The rest of the nearly $27 million campus is scheduled to open in 2024.

At 17,800 square feet, the new Clifton branch will be more than three times larger than the existing branch, located in 5,400 square feet of leased space in a shopping center. The new Clifton branch will be second in size to only the central library branch in Grand Junction.

The new Clifton library will include a community meeting space, six public study rooms, adult learning center, public computing area and dedicated areas for children and teen-agers. What’s dubbed as a community living room will offer space for reading and relaxation.

Boisvenue-Fox said a new and larger library is needed to accommodate growing demand for services in Clifton. The branch is the second-busiest of the eight library branches behind only the central library, she said.

Construction of the new Clifton branch is expected to cost $11.5 million. 

The Mesa County Library Public Library District will provide $8 million, money Boisvenue-Fox said the district has been saving over the years for the project. No tax increase or construction loan will be needed, she said.

The Mesa County Libraries foundation will provide $3.5 million. She said the foundation has raised $2 million, but needs to raise an additional $1.5 million.

Cindy Cyphers, president of the Mesa County Library District board of trustees, said she was grateful for a groundbreaking on a project that’s been planned for years. “This has been going on for a long time.”

The new library was proposed for a 5-acre site near 32 and F Roads. But the library district and Mesa County Commissioners agreed instead to use 3 acres of the site on D 1/2 Road.

Cyphers said she also was thankful the new Clifton Branch Library will be part of the community campus.

Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland said she was grateful, too. “It really is the cherry on top of this campus here.”

For more information about the new Clifton branch library or to donate to the project, log on to the site at https://mesacountylibraries.org/newcliftonbranch.