Addie McCluskey
Elmore Autauga News
Prattville’s Maintenance Vehicles, Facilities, and Lots Committee met, Dec. 9, 2025, to discuss foundation stabilization plans for the Autauga Prattville Public Library.
A recent inspection on Oct. 31, 2025, revealed that the library’s west foundation had deteriorated significantly since its previous inspection on Sept. 27, 2024. New cracks in the concrete and masonry raised new concerns, prompting engineers to warn the city that the issue requires immediate action.
“The engineers said that it’s hard to predict at what point this part of the building would become unsalvageable, but they did say that it is deteriorating day by day and needs to be fixed as soon as possible,” said City Attorney Andrew Odom. “I think that is grounds for us to take action.”
During the inspection, engineers also advised that the most reliable long-term fix is to drill helical piers through the sand layer and into bedrock, then secure the structure with steel beams to prevent future settling.
“I want to make sure that, if we are going to go under an emergency declaration to fix the issue of the settling, that we aren’t just throwing levelizing the building in there as well,” said Councilor Micheal Whaley. “Isn’t that something that needs to be bid?”
Odom clarified that leveling the floors would not qualify as emergency work and would therefore require competitive bidding. The committee also discussed the idea of funding an entirely new library instead, using the current library as storage.
“It might be better to phase it and figure out the next steps,” said Councilor Wade Newman. “We have to stop the current facility from falling apart first.”
After further discussion on the potential timeline for building a new library, the committee agreed to focus on the current facility, proceeding to discuss how the emergency repairs would be funded.
“The library falls under both education and facilities, so if we combine those two budgets, we aren’t draining one account,” said Councilor Marcus Jackson. “The way I am looking at it, though, is we have more available money in education after coming out under budget this year, so I think we do need to pull more from there.”
Ultimately, the committee agreed to allocate $175,000 from the public facilities budget and $193,000 from the education budget to fund the emergency foundation repairs for the library.
