Around this time next year, the North Lake Charles Community will have a new $2.3 million, 7,043-square-foot library with books, media, reading areas, study rooms, meeting space and expanded parking.

The announcement was celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony Monday, and construction workers were ready to get to work on the new Calcasieu Parish Epps Memorial Library at 1320 Simmons Street as soon as it ended. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury President Anthony Bartie said the parish has been working diligently to restore this resource permanently back into its previous location.

“Public libraries like Epps Library, are a vital and necessary hub,” Bartie said. “Within a community, it not only provides an information resource, but it is often that community’s social source for cultural health and helps fill the gap in most underserved areas.”

Mike Smith, CPPJ District 2, said he thought “this day would never come.”

He recalled his excitement as a boy rounding the corner and seeing the work on the first library built in the 1970s.

“This is going to be a real asset,” he said, a place for the community to gather.”

The Epps Memorial Library built in 2008 was damaged by the 2020 hurricanes, according to Smith. The parish did receive insurance money to begin repairs, but when the work began, it was determined the damage was too extensive. Then the wait came for FEMA money, according to Smith.

Calcasieu Parish Library Executive Director Marjorie Harrrisonsaid the Epps Library has always been a “thriving” library. In 2019, it had 27,000 visitors, hosted over 1,100 programs with over 14,000 people attending. Over 28,000 items were checked out from the library, and the meeting room was used 883 times.

Project contractor is K & J Development of SWLA. Architect is David Brossett of Brossett Architect LLC.

The Epps Memorial Library is named for Rochelle Rigmaiden Epps who was a member of the Consolidated Parish Library Board. She was instrumental in the construction of the first library on Simmons Street that opened in 1976.