Public Meeting To Discuss Relocating Brandon Library Canceled

BRANDON, FL -- A public meeting scheduled next week regarding a new location for the Brandon Regional Library has been canceled.

The open house meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, March 13 at 6 p.m. to get input on a site for a larger regional library in Brandon. In particular, the county was eyeing a 5.8-acre wooded site at the northwest corner of Lumsden Road and Parsons Avenue for the library's new home.

The property has long been for sale to be developed for medical offices.

Built in 1991, the current library at 619 Vonderburg Drive shares a building with the nonprofit Center Place Fine Arts and Civic Association, both of which have outgrown their spaces.

So the Hillsborough County Commission approved using $3.5 million from the Library Tax District Special Revenue Fund to relocate the library (see related story).

County communications specialist Michelle VanDyke said no reason was given for canceling the meeting. However, she noted that Brandon resident Lela Lilyquist, president of the Portamento of Hope Inc. nonprofit soup kitchen in Brandon, spoke against moving the library to the proposed site during the public comment section of the March 6 Hillsborough County Commission meeting.

Lilyquist noted that the public was never given notice of a county contract to purchase the property on Lumsden Road.

Lilyquist has long advocated turning the property into a public park. She said she's been having ongoing discussions with the Hillsborough County Veterans Council about creating a park for veterans that would include an amphitheater and therapy center for veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

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