Kaposia Library

St. Paul, Minnesota

BKV Group with Dakota County recently celebrated the grand opening of Kaposia Library in South St. Paul Library – a long-awaited project that will benefit the community in many ways. Said Dakota County Commissioner Kathleen A. Gaylord, who represents South St. Paul. “That’s the thing about libraries — it’s not just a building. It’s a place to gather, it’s a place for kids to experience the joy of reading.”

Client: Dakota County

Type: Public Library

Size: 16,000 SF

Setting the Stage for Transformation

With the current building dating back to 1927 and no longer delivering modern library services to serve a socioeconomically diverse population, Dakota County selected BKV for this monumental project with the new library featuring:

16,000 square feet on one level, improving access for all user
Study rooms and meeting spaces to accommodate groups of different sizes
A “Heritage Room” celebrating South St. Paul history
An outdoor reading space
A children’s area and dedicated teen space, across the street from South St. Paul Secondary School.

With the new library now open, the building is designed to be comparable or above LEED Silver rating in energy efficiency and funded with $11.3 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed during the COVID-19 pandemic.