High Plains Library District–Library and Innovation Center (LINC)

• Associated General Contractors (AGC) ACE Industry Award–2023 Jack Mincher People’s Choice Award
• Associated General Contractors (AGC) ACE Industry Award–Bronze Award for Best Building Project, General Contractor ($10-$40 Million)
• Colorado Association of Libraries (CALCON) Awards–Innovative Spaces Award

The library and innovation center was designed to have prominent water themes inside and outside the building. The water motif will resurface on metal screens with a watershed pattern on the exterior of the building, keeping with the theme of confluence and the importance of water in the region. Inside, the more traditional library space will be called the river of books. A similar river-like design will be visible in the children’s area of the building.

The 42,000 SF renovation will feature a children’s museum, an art installation by Wes Sam Bruce, a children’s play area, maker spaces, an outdoor amphitheater, and a sound-proofing recording studio.

A 22,000 SF addition will wrap the original building transforming it into a community center that includes a library, events space for 200 guests, and classrooms. Floor plans show how a newspaper press becomes an innovation center, how packaging becomes the children’s library, how the offices become the stacks for books, how the circular lobby becomes the inspiration for the courtyard and how the children’s museum will live on the second level.