BONITA – Inside the newly opened Bonita-Sunnyside library, patrons can cozy up to a gas fireplace after plucking a bestseller from one of the stacks.
In the same complex, people can get career guidance, buy books and gather in a spacious community meeting room. The backdrop is a view of the Chula Vista Municipal Golf Course, towering eucalyptus trees and a protected wetland.
"We appreciate the fact that you can see a beautiful vista of green trees," said Christine Plante, a branch librarian.
The Bonita-Sunnyside branch of the San Diego County Library system had its grand opening Dec. 8, unveiling 14,400 square feet of structures that include the library and surrounding buildings. The complex, planned since 1999, took a year and a half to build.
The county operates the library on land it leases from Chula Vista.
The library itself is 8,000 square feet and was built alongside new homes for the Bonita Historical Museum and the Bonita Public Safety Center. Within the library building is office space for the Bonita Business and Professional Association, Friends of the Library bookstore, a 2,000-square-foot community meeting space and a San Diego Workforce Partnership satellite office. The buildings surround a civic courtyard that includes a decorated holiday tree, veterans memorial and wooden benches.
County Supervisor Greg Cox initiated the project and asked Chula Vista officials to lease the 3 acres to the library. The city agreed, keeping half the plot as additional parking for the golf course and nearby walking trail.
After Chula Vista was on board, Cox asked for public comments and suggestions and learned that Bonita residents wanted more than just a replacement library.
"The sum of its parts is much more than the project," Cox said. "It has been truly gratifying to see how so many elements of the community have come together. This has turned into a project where Bonita has a heart, has a center."
The additions to the library make it a community hub.
For instance, the Bonita Public Safety Center will be shared by the Chula Vista Police Department, the Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol. Previously, the nearest shared office space was in Imperial Beach. The Bonita Historical Museum will open in early February with an exhibit depicting the impact of development on Bonita over the past 35 years.
The old, 3,000-square-foot library was in a storefront on Central Avenue. There were only three computers with Internet access, very little room to hold summer programs and no room for expansion.
The new library, at 4375 Bonita Road, includes three self-checkout stations and 15 computers with Internet access, and it is one of the few county libraries to have wireless Internet.
Six years ago, the county set aside almost $6 million to build the library, community meeting room and public safety center. To add the museum to the mix, 40-year Bonita residents Scott and Barbara Scott spearheaded a community-based fundraising effort. They raised $400,000 that was matched by a county grant. In addition, many local businesses and residents pitched in with offerings such as grading, landscaping, plants, signage and a 50-foot flag pole in the center of a veterans memorial.
"Everything about it is absolutely spectacular," said Scott Scott, 64. "It is a real treasure for our community."
Carly Bartkiewicz is a Union-Tribune news assistant.
Carly Bartkiewicz: (619) 498-6626; carly.bartkiewicz@uniontrib.com
