Virtual forums set Dec. 2 and 5 for public to review new Clifton Branch design concepts

Two virtual community forums for residents of the Clifton and Fruitvale communities to review conceptual designs for the proposed new Clifton Branch Library are scheduled for 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, and 2-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, on the Zoom online meeting platform.

The forums will present information about the project and the conceptual designs, and the public will be invited to comment online about the plans. Feedback from the forums will be used to refine the eventual final design of the facility.

Those interested in attending the virtual forums can visit the appropriate date on the Events Calendar at mesacountylibraries.org to find a Zoom meeting link in the calendar listing.

The conceptual designs also will be on display online and outside the current Clifton Branch, 590 32 Road, and written comments about them will be accepted.

Mesa County Libraries plan to build a new Clifton Branch on five acres of vacant land at 3180 F Road, on the north side of F Road approximately 0.2 miles east of Mount Garfield Greenhouse and Nursery.

The new branch – tentatively planned to be approximately 20,000 square feet – would replace the current Clifton Branch, which occupies 5,400 square feet of leased space in a shopping center. A tentative timeline for the project estimates that construction will begin in March 2022.

Clifton is the second-busiest library location in Mesa County, second only to the Central Library in downtown Grand Junction. The branch serves a population of approximately 20,000 residents in the east end of the Grand Valley.

Preliminary library designs have been prepared by the University Technical Assistance (UTA) program at the University of Colorado Denver. Working with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the UTA program provides technical design assistance for public improvement projects in rural communities. The conceptual designs incorporate feedback gathered from the Clifton and Fruitvale communities during a series of public meetings in fall 2019. Those meetings focused on needs of the community that a new library may be able to meet.