Demolition begins on the site of the future Mariner Library

EVERETT — In front of the demolished Patty’s Eggnest, an excavator lifts wood planks into a shredder, which separates metal objects and spits out clean wood. When the debris is clear, construction will begin on a new library in South Everett’s Mariner neighborhood.

On Tuesday, Eric Howard, executive director of Sno-Isle Libraries, walked through the construction site alongside Sno-Isle staff and State Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds.

The new library will meet community interests in continual learning and gathering spaces, Howard said.

“What we’re really seeking is to provide all of the resources that a community like this deserves, so larger conference rooms, larger meeting spaces and larger collections,” he said

Located on the northeast corner of 4th Avenue West and 128th Street South West, the future library will serve as a central resource for community members, including the “230,000 residents in the greater unincorporated Snohomish County’s Mariner area,” according to a Sno-Isle Libraries press release.

In 2024, Sno-Isle Libraries purchased the 0.8-acre property for $4.5 million, the release said. The project has received $4,153,940 in state grants, and the library district is seeking additional grants.

Liias, who helped Sno-Isle secure over $4 million in state grants for the project, said investments for the library were gained across four budget cycles.

“There’s needs just like this all over the state,” he said. “It’s been hard to make sure that we’re getting our share.”

Skycorp, LTD., a general contractor based in Arlington, began clearing the site at the end of last week. According to R.D. Burley, assistant director of facilities, safety and security at Sno-Isle Libraries, 90% to 95% of the old building will be recycled.

“A lot of other companies would just bulldoze the building and throw it in a dump somewhere,” Burley said. “They recycle as much of the material as they possibly can.”

Alongside books, the library will provide a third space with community resources, flexible spaces for continual learning, cultural events and potentially concerts, Howard said.

“There are really very few, if any, institutions left in American society that are free and available for the community to come in and meet their neighbors,” he said.

Liias said kids in the area lack community spaces, unlike nearby towns, with the Lynnwood Recreation Center and Edmonds with the Boys and Girls Clubs.

“Folks here have, right now, very little, and I grew up in a neighborhood like that,” he said. “Making sure that kids here have positive, constructive things to do is really important to me, and especially because this is a diverse neighborhood, low-income neighborhood. These are the neighborhoods we leave out more often than not, and I want to make sure that we do better.”

In 2017, Sno-Isle Libraries opened the current Mariner Library site as a “demonstration library” in the 500 block of 128th Street South West. Demonstration libraries provide library services and explore options for bringing a library to that community, Howard said.

“There are so many other resources that we provide, from job training to working with early literacy to adult learning,” he said. “This space is kind of at its limit. It’s demonstrated what we can do on some scale, but we really want to scale that up.”

The current location will be replaced when construction finishes down the road. Sno-Isle libraries anticipate construction to begin in 2027 with Johnston Architects performing the site’s planning, the release said.

While it is still early in the process, Howard said they have designed three models for the new space that account for the parking requirements, including one that is 15,000 square feet, 30,000 square feet and 50,000 square feet, respectively. The models act as a “first draft version of the visioning process,” he said.

Community members can follow along with the library’s development on the Sno-Isle Libraries’ website.

Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan