The quest for a modern Woodland library is moving forward with the regional library board’s decision to buy a site for the new branch.
Fort Vancouver Regional Library District trustees voted at Monday’s meeting in La Center to purchase property at 828 Goerig St., where the Woodland Funeral Home is located.
Woodland is one of three cities in the Fort Vancouver system where nonprofit Friends of the Library groups have been working to replace outdated community libraries.
The other campaigns are in Ridgefield and Washougal, where they’re still looking for building sites.
The Woodland transaction is scheduled to close Friday. Then, library officials will be able to discuss the planning process in more detail, Jane Higgins, board chairwoman, said Tuesday. The resolution lists a purchase price of $1,001,714.34.
There are no immediate plans for the funeral home to move, according to a representative of the family trust that is selling the property.
“We will lease back the property and look for a new location,” said Alice Sanders. Her family has owned and operated the Woodland Funeral Home since 1949.
When it is time for the new Woodland Community Library to take shape on the property, it will be in a new facility. The Woodland Funeral Home is too small to house a community library, said Amelia Shelley, executive director of the library district.
The home of the current Woodland Community Library, 770 Park St., was built in 1909. It has 2,376 square feet, on two levels. A 2014 facilities study recommended a new Woodland library of 10,239 square feet.
