Teens want a coffee shop and more space for sports.

Others would like drop-off baby-sitting services, day care and after-school care. Still others have concerns about sufficient space for arts programs.

Before work begins on two new buildings in O'Hara to replace Boyd Community Center and Lauri Ann West Memorial Library, different segments of the community have been asked what they want in the facilities that will serve those who live in the Fox Chapel Area School District.

Focus groups were established to get opinions and ideas from residents of Aspinwall, Blawnox, Fox Chapel, Indiana Township, O'Hara and Sharpsburg. In addition, the architect's plans were discussed at a town meeting last month.

As a result of the input from teens, for example, plans call for the community center to have a cafe that will serve coffee and light lunches. Plans for a full-size gym with suspended walking track that would enable the sports programs to expand also are a result of teens' concerns.

The community center and library currently share space in the former Boyd Elementary School on Powers Run Road in O'Hara.

Plans call for the new community center to be built on the parking lot at the site and the school to be torn down. The new library is to be built on property donated by Fox Chapel next to its borough building on Fox Chapel Road.

"Some patrons have expressed concern about separating the community center and library," said Stephanie Flom, executive director of the Community Center and Library Association. "There is some benefit to having them together, such as having one child using the center and another the library. We're trying to address those needs and the two parcels will make more programming possible. The two locations are only a mile apart."

Too little space, an inadequate heating system, roof repairs and lack of air-conditioning were among the reasons the association's board decided new facilities were needed.

Ms. Flom said plans call for the library to triple in size in a new $4 million, 24,000-square-foot building designed by Axis Architecture. The main floor is to house the collections, and the lower level is to have space for programming and book processing. The plans include a new children's room with separate story, crafts and private group study rooms, expanded computer space and room for more collections.

The Lauri Ann West Memorial Library was named after a Boyd Elementary School pupil who died following an accident on the playground, Ms. Flom said. "The family wanted to honor her and built an addition to the school for a library, which is now the children's room."

Whether the new library will keep the name has not been decided. "We could have naming rights," she said.

Amy Mangis, program director at Boyd Community Center, is excited about the proposed $5.5 million, 30,000-square-foot community center.

"It's fantastic. We're in a big planning phase, taking surveys and getting opinions from users so we can have the best buildings we can," she said. "More classrooms will allow us to expand our programming and continue the popular ones we have, with more space for arts and crafts classes for children and adults."

Programs are being planned for the new center.

"We're building cultural programming, and under a new partnership, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater will send instructors and accompanists for classes for 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds this year and expand to age 7 next year," Ms. Flom said.

Irish step dancing, flamenco dancing and additional yoga classes are planned.

"We like to grow programming slowly and carefully and have quality. It's a combination of meeting the community's needs and finding the best instructors."

Foxwall Emergency Medical Services, which occupies the site where the new community center is to be built, will move to a location on Squaw Run Road and its building will be razed.

The Community Center and Library Association authorized a combined capital campaign to raise a total of $10.5 million. O'Hara and Fox Chapel each committed $1 million, and the other four communities are being asked to contribute, Ms. Flom said. So far, the campaign has raised more than $2.25 million, including the amounts pledged by O'Hara and Fox Chapel.

Elaine Mitsch, campaign coordinator, is working with government, foundations and other contributors to obtain funding, The public campaign won't begin until 2008, she said.

Organizers hope to begin work on the library in February, with a projected opening in spring 2009, Ms. Flom said. That's when construction would begin on the community center.

When Boyd Elementary School closed in 1982, the community successfully advocated for a library, and planners decided a community center would make good use of the building as well.

According to an association publication, the community center serves more than 55,000 people each year. The library, a member of the Allegheny County Library Association, maintains a collection of more than 150,000 books, tapes, CDs, DVDs and periodicals and has more than 115,000 members and visitors annually.

Ms. Flom said the two facilities offer an additional benefit. "The library and community center provide a place for people to meet and make friendships that last a lifetime," she said.

First Published: June 7, 2007, 9:45 a.m.