LAKELAND — Although the city already has agreed to lease coffee-shop space to Black & Brew Coffee House and Bistro II as part of a renovation project at the Lakeland Public LIbrary, new city commissioners have questions about the long-planned project.

As commissioners gathered with city staff Friday to look over the agenda for the regularly scheduled Monday morning meeting, an item about signing off on the construction project to renovate about 3,1000 square feet of the Lake Morton library sparked questions, mostly from recently elected Commissioner Michael Dunn.

City staff is expecting construction to start following the commission's approval of the low bid among five bids — $762,000 from Strickland Construction of Lakeland. Commissioners will vote on it Monday. 

The two-phase project consists of renovating about 2,000 square feet of the library’s administrative area, including offices, break area, two supply rooms and utility closet, circulation area and a single-use toilet, as well as renovating 1,100 square feet for the coffee shop, which will include a patio-seating area on the northeast corner of the library.

Dunn's comments focused on the city giving an advantage to one business over existing restaurants in the neighborhood, specifically the Red Door and Mr. Fish, and questioning why the city did not go with a simpler and less expensive route such as providing a kiosik inside the library.

City Manager Tony Delgado explained that library patrons have asked for a coffee shop, that other libraries, including Winter Haven library, are “very satisfied” with their coffee shops, and that funding is coming not from the general fund but through the countywide library cooperative.

Before signing a flat-rate lease agreement from Black & Brew in November, the city went over five bids, Delgado said. Although the coffee shop will also serve food, it will cater to a different clientele than the other two restaurants, he said.

“We look at this as an opportunity to seed investment in the Palmetto Avenue-Lake Morton community. We don’t want to compete with the private sector,” Delgado said.

The question was “how can we make the Palmetto Street area a second go-to place in downtown,” Delgado said. “This will hopefully help bring more private investment to the area.”

The coffee shop will open at 7 a.m., while the library opens at 9 a.m. so there will be an outside entrance and the shop will be secured from the library.

Commissioner Philip Walker asked about the impact of transient activity at and near the library, adding, “we don’t want to see it increase.”

Delgado said that, in general, when there are more eyes on an area, transient activity goes down, noting however, that the library and neighboring museum are public buildings. Police do run extra patrols through the area, he said.

Mayor Bill Mutz commented, “this will stimulate the area. More people will come by for coffee and see what’s at the library. The museum will benefit, too.”

Commissioner Stephane Madden said she is “excited about the opportunity” to support arts and culture and bring more people into the area.

Marilyn Meyer can be reached at marilyn.meyer@theledger.com or 863-802-7558.