Minneapolis was well into the spirit of the NRP at that point city wide, and neighborhoods had made and were implementing decisions which supported their community libraries. SSB apparently interpreted those neighborhood decisions as a signal that the population in general supported community libraries and that the library would have to do likewise to gain enough community support to pass a referendum for a new central library.
What also figured into the decision was the Fire Marshall's assessment that the central library did not meet fire codes in an acceptable way, if at all. Once you have two or three million books laying around, this becomes an issue. The cost of retrofitting central to accomplish what good fire protection required would have cost nearly as much as a new library, ergo central was not worth saving.
I was leery and really not behind the push for a new central entirely because I didn't think the director was up to the task and the director, having concentrated all that energy toward central, had neglected her connection to staff in the community libraries to the point that she had largely lost support among them. I saw a train wreck on the way with implementation. Too, just before the election, Wally Swan, a member of the Board of Estimates and Taxation, had counseled that economically it was not wise to push for a central library in that election.
When some members of the board were replaced in that same election, both by appointment and by election, the board began by talking about a new director. The Chair of the board wanted a unanimous vote for a new director. It was one of the first votes the board took after the election. MPL has a new director.
Don't misunderstand, the director had devoted 30 years to MPL and she had done her job. She was made Acting Director when her predecessor left rather unexpectedly, as I understand it. The board let the Acting Director dangle there, neither fish nor fowl as it were, for maybe two years. Finally, the Acting Director justifiably demanded of the board that they either choose her as director or find another director. The board conceded the point and made her director. The way the board did that said to me, just another library user at the time, that the board did not have full confidence in the Acting Director, but was not ready to do a search for a director so soon after a national director search. I thought they treated their acting director/director pretty shabbily at that point.
With the reduced amount dedicated to a new central library, the choice of architects probably changed. All those architectural firms who put in a bid were aware that there was $110,000,000 as a budget for a new central. This was less than MPL had originally expected to spend. I believe, though I'm no longer sure about this, that MPL wanted $140 million just for central but it might have been more. Pelli was one of several architectural firms who bid on the central library project with that knowledge.
WizardMarks, Central
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
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