City of Cerritos Library Garage

Build Consensus. Build Success.
How does a city choose between neighborhood aesthetics and an extra $2 million in building costs? City officials in Cerritos, CA faced just that dilemma recently as they examined two options for adding parking to accommodate their new municipal library. Fortunately, a technology solution from MultiGen-Paradigm helped the city reach quick resolution on what had been shaping up as a very thorny and contentious decision.

The Design Dilemma
In 1999, the City began planning a major expansion of its municipal library, including 50 percent more floor space and room for 250 new Internet workstations. To handle the expected new library traffic, a two-story parking garage would also have to be built. The low cost alternative was to build the new garage above ground. However, because the library is adjacent to a residential area, the City Council was concerned that an above ground garage would be both aesthetically unattractive and a threat to the privacy of the library's neighbors. A below ground garage would solve these problems, but would raise project costs by $2 million.

The City Council was anxious about compromising their good relationship with the neighboring community. At the same time, any decision to spend an additional $2 million would certainly require very careful scrutiny. Moreover, the Council's decision on the garage was pressed for time. The planning and construction process for the new library was already underway. If the Council could not act quickly, the garage would not be completed in time for the opening of the new library in June 2001.

A Technology Solution
Realizing that ordinary architectural models would not resolve the issue, the city reached out for a more powerful technology solution. The City Council asked MultiGen-Paradigm to work with the city's project managers to create a realtime 3D simulation of both garage designs. The goal was to provide lawmakers and citizens with a realistic 3D model of both garage alternatives.