For two years the Library Advisory Commission has been studying the issue of a new paint job for the E.P. Foster Library. Paint samples were applied to the front of the building so that patrons could express their opinion concerning the color. The Design Review Committee, county staff and historic preservation groups were also consulted. The Historic Preservation Committee had a scraping taken to determine the color the building was originally painted. The Library Advisory Commission recommended a parchment with green trim color scheme similar to that of an architectural drawing made before the construction of the building. The Historic Preservation Committee rejected this recommendation and approved the green color scheme discovered through the scraping and seen in this photograph from the 1950’s.
The green option was particularly unpopular with passers-by who expressed an opinion of the paint samples.
The report of the Ventura County Star on the historical color debate can be found here.
The City Council will take up the matter of the paint color at their meeting this Monday, May 7.
At the May 7 City Council meeting, the Library Advisory Commission will also present the Vision for the Future: 2012-2017 Library Strategic Plan. The plan was developed
around specific goals and priorities as identified through numerous community conversations and synthesized into a cohesive plan by the Library Strategic Plan Steering
Committee and the Library Working Group as stewarded by the Library Advisory Commission. The plan will be presented to the City Council with a recommendation to approve and allocate staff and resources to begin implementation. The Vision for the Future can be found as Attachment A to agenda item 2 here.