Photograph by Anne Godenham

At the end of last year, a project that was two years and $56 million in the making came to a close: the new Mount Vernon Library Commons is officially open to the public!  

In addition to a new public library with youth services and a great teen room, the mixed-use space includes a community kitchen, a publicly-accessible conference center, and a three-story parking garage that boasts 76 EV charging spaces and nine charging lockers for electric bicycles.  

The goal of the commons is twofold: to provide the community with a gathering place and to give drivers along I-5 a reason to stop in Mount Vernon for longer than it takes to gas up their car. Now they can park (and charge their electric car), stretch their legs along the river walk, and spend some cash at one of First Street’s lovely shops or restaurants. The new parking garage is the “largest municipally owned EV charging station in the United States,” according to a press release put out by the City of Mount Vernon.  

Despite some Skagitonians’ concerns about increasing property taxes, the commons was funded completely through federal, state, and local sources—none of which included an increase in local property taxes. And, perhaps more importantly, the new building provides much-needed resources to the community, while simultaneously driving tourism to downtown.

208 W. Kincaid St., Mount Vernon, mountvernonwa.gov/175/Library