Groundbreaking Celebration September 2005

Library Groundbreaking

The library hosted a festive groundbreaking celebration at 10 a.m. Thursday, September 1, 2005. There were abundant opportunities for digging including a treasure-filled sand pile for preschoolers equipped with miniature shovels. A jazz trio provided appropriately upbeat music.

Champaign Mayor Gerald Schweighart took a turn at the podium and was first to dig. The shovel was passed symbolically along a line of library staffers from the current library to the new site.

Speakers at the event included U. S. Representative Tim Johnson and architect Carol Ross Barney, along with Library Board of Trustees President Rusty Freeland and Champaign Public Library Foundation Board President J. Barry Brindley. Janice Harrington, the library‘s children‘s services manager, provided words of inspiration.

Balloon bouquets marked the four corners of the new building to help define its scale and location. A crowd of over 200 preschoolers and parents jammed the Auditorium for a “We Can Build It!” storytime just before the groundbreaking.

Schweighart, Jakobsson, Grove break ground
Mayor Schweighart, State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, Library Director Marsha Grove

The passing of the shovel
Ceremonial shovel pass

Refreshments
Refreshment table

Board members break ground
Library trustees

Child digs in sand
Young excavator