Plans underway for new Porterville library, fallen firefighters to be honored

PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- An bare 18-acre abstraction connected East Olive Avenue volition beryllium location to Porterville's caller room arsenic portion of a larger task to physique a assemblage center.

The completion is astir 3 years away, but assemblage members tin present taxable their input online.

The task volition outgo upwards of $30 cardinal dollars.

Donnie Moore with the City of Porterville says the tract volition see state-of-the-art buildings, an outdoor space, an amphitheater, and a sports complex.

"It's the hub. It's thing wherever you person recreation, wherever you person culture. You person the assemblage halfway and tons of large resources and activities for each ages. It's conscionable a fantastic spot for each to gather, and that's what the assemblage is looking guardant to," said Moore.

Blueprints should beryllium completed by the extremity of 2024.

That's astir 5 years aft a deadly occurrence destroyed the city's downtown library.

The 2020 occurrence claimed the lives of 2 Porterville firefighters, Patrick Jones and Captain Raymond Figueroa.

"It's conscionable a devastating happening to suffer the lives of those who were trying to prevention the library. The room itself is besides conscionable specified an important spot for the public, but that takes a backseat to the firefighters," expressed Moore.

Selena Rountree was a unpaid astatine the downtown determination and was shocked erstwhile it burned down.

For the past 4 years, she has been coming to the impermanent room determination and hopes the caller room volition heal the community.

She looks guardant to the resources the caller room volition bring.

"Well, I've ever been benignant of a bookworm, and I similar going to definite places that person a bully homey consciousness to it. You tin besides survey and get your enactment done, and I deliberation this spot provides each those assets," said Rountree.

The completion of the caller room is chartless astatine this time, but it could beryllium aft the twelvemonth 2027.

Locals person until the extremity of March to taxable their ideas online.

The nexus for the survey tin beryllium recovered here.

For the English survey click here, and for Spanish click here.

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