Foley's plans for a new library involve the initial step of relocating the current Foley Symbol Health Clinic situated on the designated site.

The Foley City Council has greenlit the construction of a new facility for the Symbol Health Clinic on municipal property along East Rose Avenue. Presently, the clinic is situated east of the Foley Dog Park, at the crossroads of South Chicago Street and East Orange Avenue.

Construction on the $20 million library at the existing clinic location is set to commence in 2024.

City officials deliberated on two potential sites for relocating the clinic, with the alternative being near the former National Guard armory.

“With the new library site, we're gonna have to relocate Symbol,” Foley construction manager Jeff Phillips said. “We have two choices. We can go behind the armory or we can go to East Rose.”

Following the National Guard unit's move to a new facility in 2023, the city acquired the former armory.

The council voted to place the clinic on East Rose Avenue.

Mayor Ralph Hellmich emphasized that situating the clinic on the East Rose Avenue parcel would open up other possibilities for Foley's property near the armory. The city intends to renovate this space for public recreation and municipal offices.

"We looked closely at those two sites," Hellmich said. "We don’t have a use for the property over there, and it would keep our other property free and clear and maximizing that space. It just made sense to put it on this property."

To make way for the new development, the city plans to demolish an unused house on the site and construct a new modular building measuring about 1,960 square feet.

"We looked at it. It would cost too much to restore, and we looked and it does not have any historic value," Hellmich said, referring to the existing house.

Phillips outlined the city's intention to preserve most of the trees on the site, incorporating a gravel driveway with a paved area for handicapped parking.

“We want to try to keep as many of those trees as we can,” he said. “We're gonna try to incorporate the driveway through and keep most of the large magnolias and live oaks.”

The current Symbol building will be demolished to clear the property for the start of the new library's construction. The library is slated for completion by the end of 2025, boasting almost 40,000 square feet of space, approximately double the size of the current facility.