Rolling Hills Library set to usher in new era with opening of multi-million dollar facility in April
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- After calling the North Belt Highway home for the last 30 years, one St. Joseph library is looking ahead to a new chapter this spring with the move to a state-of-the-art facility on North Riverside Road.
Construction of the new Rolling Hills Library facility located on Riverside Road near Faraon Street is making significant progress, with the exterior of the 36,000-square-foot building nearing the finish line.
The plan is for the current location at 1904 N. Belt Highway to close on March 16, 2026, with a soft opening for the new facility now being targeted for mid-April 2026.
Library Director Michelle Mears expressed her excitement on the progress of construction and the expected benefits of the new library for the community.
"It will be convenient being on one level instead of the two level setup we have in our current building," Mears said. "We'll have more windows, access to the outdoors and a drive up window. It's a more efficient use of space than we have right because the current building was a retail strip mall building, and the split levels of space has made it difficult at times."
The groundwork for the new building began back in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial thought was to move the library to the upper level of the Belt Branch for more exposure and the offices to the lower level.
However, upon inspection, they discovered the building wasn't designed to facilitate the types of changes envisioned.
"We discovered this building was not engineered to hold the weight of the library books and bookshelves. It presented difficulty for us to try to renovate and stay in this location," Mears said. "We started to look for an alternate piece of property and came upon the Faraon site. We then put together our team, worked with architects and our construction manager to build the new building."
Costs for the new building are estimated around $18 million, a projected financed by reserve funds and bond funding.
While many are excited about the prospect of the new Rolling Hills location, Mears acknowledged it may be a bittersweet change for some.
"There's some nostalgia for people who've been coming here for a long time and find it very convenient. Belt Highway is the main retail corridor and traffic corridor up and down through St. Joseph, a lot of people find it easy to stop on your way to say the grocery store or the post office," Mears said. "It kind of puts us right in the middle because some people are deterred by the traffic. We kind of have a mix of people who are excited about our new location and some who are sad that we'll be moving."
