The question has been raised by several people as to why an interim location for the library. There are essentially three reasons.
First off, the existing building would need substantial renovations to make it last another five years. At minimum, it would have needed a new roof, a new heating plant, and a new air conditioner. These things alone would have run many millions of dollars. In addition, the library is a building full of paper without a fire suppression system. Currently egress does not meet code. Life safety improvements would have also needed to be made to keep the building operational for the five years it will take to complete the project. Second, the housing project was originally slated to create about $10 million in revenues. You had to do the housing project to get these revenues, which meant that the housing project had to be done concurrently with the library project. These monies were slated for non-building amenities such as the plaza, skyways, etc. The interim site is costing about $8 million. Third, having two cleared sites let us have the in-depth discussion about which site is the better one for the library, essentially the discussion we are having today. Carol Becker Longfellow _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
