Renderings courtesy of Holzheimer Bolek Meehan Architects

An exterior rendering of a revised plan for a Roanoke County library on Merriman Road shows an auditorium on the right — an optional feature, to be included only if bids are low enough to support it. The view is from the wetlands area behind the building.

Rendering courtesy of Holzheimer Bolek Meehan Architects

The newly designed second floor of the planned south Roanoke County library would hold collections for adults, a reference section and a young-adult area with audiovisual equipment.

There's no denying the revised exterior design for a new south Roanoke County library -- which will go out to bid next month -- just isn't as dramatic as the first proposal.

Inside, there will still be a fireplace, couches, community meeting rooms and a coffee shop with a drive-through window, probably its most talked-about amenity.

But the original plan called for lots and lots of glass, long wavy walls, and between 10,000 and 15,000 more square feet of space than the latest proposal.

Bids for that design, however, turned out to be way over budget when they came in last fall.

Of the six contractors seeking the job, none said the original proposal could be built for less than $16.3 million -- $2 million more than the county had set aside from a recent sale of bonds.

So, everything went back to the drawing board, and a re-bidding of the Merriman Road project will be required in June.

"The new building is blockier -- more geometric than curvilinear," Diana Rosapepe told the board of supervisors in a work session last week. But Rosapepe, the county's director of library services, insisted that "it's actually very attractive."

The basic design encompasses 49,000 square feet, with an optional 5,000-square-foot auditorium to be constructed if the price allows.

Some less expensive fixtures have been adopted in addition to the cheaper architecture. Metal panels have replaced some of the glass. A new rubberized roofing material will be used. The coffee shop will be smaller.

The books, DVDs and computers will be a little closer together than they would have been, she said, although this library will still seem wide open compared to the facilities it will replace on Virginia 419.

That library is the busiest one west of Richmond, each year circulating well over a half-million books, DVDs and other items during more than 375,000 annual visits by its patrons.

The original design for its replacement included basement storage and garage facilities, as well as a small outdoor amphitheater, all of which had to be eliminated to save money.

But many of the amenities that Rosapepe and others hope will make the building a community center as well as a library have been retained -- if scaled back somewhat.

The first floor will include the main entrance and circulation desks. It will also house the audio and video collections, as well as books for children and teens.

There will be plenty of plush seating, a fireplace and a meeting room that can be divided in half to accommodate community groups or special events. The coffee shop remains on the end of the building.

That level also will contain offices for staff and rooms for children's programs.

The second floor holds the collections geared toward adults, as well as quiet spaces away from the noise that can be generated in children's areas. It includes the reference section and a young-adult area with audiovisual equipment.

Bids will be due about the first of August, and Rosapepe said construction should be completed in the first half of 2011.

In the meantime, travelers who pass the location will be getting used to a new roundabout intersection planned on Merriman Road near the library entrance, intended to make visiting the facility safer.

The new building's entrance will sit near a tight blind curve and just across from Penn Forest Elementary School.

The $1.5 million roundabout, to be constructed with the county's VDOT revenue-sharing money, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2010, said Diane Hyatt, the county's chief financial officer.

The street won't offer the only transportation around the 28-acre library site, which includes extensive federally protected wetlands on the back side.

The county's department of parks, recreation and tourism has obtained grants to construct a raised walkway through that part of the property, which will include spots where visitors may sit and take in the natural environment without disturbing it.