MONTEREY — California’s first library is developing plans for major enhancements and expansion after economic downturns delayed the effort for nearly two decades.

Planning for the Monterey Public Library have been in the works since the end of January with a study looking at the scope, need and implementation of an upgraded and expanded library. Library Director Inga Waite and the library’s board of trustees are now at the point where different options are being considered.

Funding opportunities are currently being studied along with how the project could be constructed in phases so the library won’t be hit with one huge bill, Waite said. The cost modeling includes construction, technology, signage, public art, new shelving and seating, meeting spaces and public technology.

“When the library was built they never anticipated today’s technology,” Waite said. “Wireless doesn’t penetrate walls well because of the way they were constructed back then.”

Back then would be 1952 when the library opened at its current location on Pacific Street. By 1995 the library’s age began to show and staff began the planning stages of a major refurbishment. But five years later the dot-com bubble burst and funding dried up. Plans were shelved.

The plans were dusted off again in 2007, Waite said, only to go back on the shelf when the real-estate bubble imploded. By then the library had deteriorated to the point where it would cost $3.5 million to upgrade. The city’s capital improvement budget was able to step in and pay for the most critical costs, such as replacing the plumbing, safety upgrades and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“That was the year the sewage failed and flooded the staff area,” Waite said.

Repairs of anything that wasn’t absolutely critical — the roof was replaced for $350,000 in 2016 — continued to be deferred until the current iteration of library refurbishment planning started to jell. South San Francisco-based Group 4 Architecture, Research + Planning Inc. is collaborating with the library board to develop the new plans. The firm specializes in library design. The next phase, beginning later this month, will begin to identify funding sources and establishing priorities for the phased development.

The library has been a critical component of the city for the past 165 years, and that need has not waned today. In 2017-18 the library welcomed 297,861 visitors and circulated 417,042 books, DVDs, audio books and electronic resources.

This is both good news and bad news. It is so popular that heavy library use is continuing to take its toll on the condition of the facility.