Gwinnett officials approved Tuesday a contract for the design of a new library and city market in Snellville.

The city, which approved its portion of the $1.2 million design contract last month, hopes the new facility will be another step toward rejuvenating its downtown area.

“This will be an enormous step in the direction of building our Towne Center dream,” Snellville City Manager Butch Sanders said in a previous news release.

The plans, which The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported on in 2016, call for relocating the current Gwinnett County Public Library branch on Lenora Church Road to the new combination building in the town's center. The building is also slated to include a "city market" with the potential for shops, restaurant and other retail, as well as a second floor that could be used for other "beneficial civic uses."

The design contract was awarded to firm TSW, Inc. The county will contribute about $338,000 in local sales tax dollars to the project, with the city covering the remaining $922,000 or so.

City officials have said they hope to break ground on the project in mid-2019.

In other Gwinnett news:

Wildlife experts say you probably don't want to leave food out this time of year.