The Yolo County Board of Supervisors OK’d a $14.2 million construction contract to build a new library branch called the Walnut Park Branch Library in Davis.

Supervisors accepted a bid from DL Falk Construction, which is based in Hayward, after Yolo County Director of General Services Ryan Pistochini said the county received four different offers from various contractors.

According to the summary provided within the meeting’s agenda materials, the County identified a need for more library services in Davis, and last year, the board received nearly $8.8 million from a State Library Building Forward grant.

“When I visit Yolo County library branches in the City of Winters, Yolo, Clarksburg, and elsewhere in the county, it’s clear they serve as hubs for the community,” Lucas Frerichs, Chair of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, stated in a June statement regarding the approval of plans for the new library. “The effort to reduce capacity issues at the Mary L. Stephens Library and expand services to a growing Davis community has been a team effort with federal, state, county, and city partners. We now have an opportunity for the broader community to support our libraries.”

Located at 2700 Lillard Drive, the new Walnut Park Library is designed to address longstanding capacity issues at the Mary L. Stephens Davis Branch Library, as well as enhance library services for all Yolo County residents.

The new library will be located in an area of Davis with a substantial English as a Second Language population, as well as the highest concentration of free and reduced-price lunch recipients. Many of these residents do not have a reliable way to cross Interstate 80 to receive services at the Mary L Stephens Davis Branch Library and would benefit from a library that is closer to their homes.

When constructed, the library will feature a spacious community room, comprehensive collections for all age groups, study areas, indoor and outdoor programming spaces tailored for children, a dedicated teen area, computers, WiFi, self-checkout stations, ample parking and much more.

These amenities collectively position the Walnut Park Library as a hub for educational resources, community engagement, and cultural enrichment across Yolo County.

The County also asked for three bid add-alternates to accompany the base bid to add additional electric vehicle charging stations, additional solar arrays, and a more efficient HVAC system than originally planned.

Given that the base bid plus all three add alternates total less than the engineer’s estimate for the building, County staff recommended approving this contract with all three add alternates to contribute to achieving the County’s climate action and adaptation goals.

DL Falk’s base bid was $12,984,000, and the sum of the three alternates was $1.2 million for a total construction contract cost of $14.1 million, according to the documents provided to the board.

Additionally, staff requested authority to approve change orders up to a maximum amount allowed in the California Public Contract Code which may be needed due to undiscovered site conditions or another unanticipated issues that necessitate a change from the plans and specifications originally published by the County.

“This project started with a vision — this is something the board invested in and took a risk with, because it was needed, and where there’s a will there’s a way,” Yolo County Supervisor Angel Barajas said at the board’s Nov. 5 meeting. “With that type of leadership and attitude, I think our board, with staff and our partners at the city of Davis, we were really able to put this together.”

Construction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026, with a public opening in the summer or fall of 2026.