Today at 9:55 the City Council is meeting to start down a path to the destruction of the Walker Library.
Why do I write this? Rybak and the City Council have refused the resolution directing the Board of Estimate to sell the bonds to fix the leaky roof at Walker Library. This is a library for gosh sake, full of things that don't do well when they get wet. Instead, Rybak and the City Council are working to steal this site from the Library Board and turn it over to a developer. Walker Library is on a prime corner in Uptown and a developer wants the library off that site so they can make a boatload of money off it. God forbid that citizens actually have use of some of the prime land in the City. So how is being accomplished? The City Council and Mayor are passing a resolution today to force either a complete rebuild of Walker Library as a building with housing on top of it or to force it off onto another, less desirable site so the current site can be given to a developer. I have attached portions of the resolution below for anyone who wants to see the actual action. Now for mixed use fans out there (and I am usually one of them) we had the director of the Seattle Library system come talk to us when we started on the library referendum program to get wisdom from some of the top professionals around the country. She said they had done several mixed use developments with libraries and that they would never do another one where the library was in a mixed use building. Why is that? She said: 1) Costs were always higher in mixed use. This may seem counterintuitive but you don't get a building designed for library functions but you get a library shoehorned into a building designed for other purposes. 2) Construction timelines were not under the control of the library and always got strung out which leads to higher costs. 3) Housing is simply not compatible with libraries. Bathtubs overflow. People play their stereos too loud. There are domestic calls. Kids run free. There is trash from people coming in and out of the housing. This isn't compatible with a library. And the library isn't the landlord to be in control of these problems, but instead some property management firm trying to make as much money off the property as possible. 4) The library loses its identity in the community. Libraries are not simply retail outlets to be stuffed into some mixed use development like some banal drycleaners or SuperAmerica. Libraries are not like some vending machines, dryly dispensing books. Libraries are gathering places for the communities, safe havens, welcoming places. This is simply inconsistent with mixed use. Even in the suburbs, libraries haven't been shoved into strip malls. They are separate buildings with unique characteristics that reflect the communities that they are in. A place of pride for the community. Now there are a lot of people out there who decried Belton and the development deals that she did. But she never sunk this low as to steal a library to turn it over to a developer and try to tell citizens that they are getting a good deal out of it like Rybak and the City Council are doing. If anyone wants to attend the committee meeting and hear the debate over this, you have five minutes today, 9:55 am to 10:00 am. Don't blink or you will miss it. Carol Becker Longfellow <excerpted from the resolution before the City Council today at 9:55 AM> Whereas, City and Library officials are responsible for judicious use of the financial resources of the City and Library including partnerships that result in improved services for the citizens of Minneapolis; Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by The City Council of The City of Minneapolis: That it supports a Walker Library Task Force whose responsibility will be to evaluate the efficacy of capital improvements to the existing facility and mixed-use alternatives either on the current site or on a site in the immediate vicinity of Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street that may include housing and commercial uses, and a greatly enhanced library building designed to accommodate improved services. Be It Further Resolved that the Task Force be co-chaired by the Mayor and the President of the Library Board (or their designees) and be composed of the following members: Two City Council Members appointed by the City Council; Two Minneapolis Public Library Trustees appointed by the Library Board; Two representatives appointed by the City Council; Two representatives appointed by the Library Board. Be It Further Resolved that the proposed work plan for the Task Force subject to final determination by the Task Force includes the following: Evaluation of the feasibility of a mixed-use development on the current Walker Library site; Identification of viable alternative locations for Walker Library in the immediate vicinity of Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street; Consideration of preferred uses that will be part of a mixed-use development; Consideration of a preliminary financing plan for the mixed-use development that will include a strategy for filling all project gaps; Preparation and distribution of a Request for Proposals for the Walker Library site or an alternative location; and Evaluation of proposals according to specified criteria; Recommendations to the Mayor, City Council and Library Board as to a preferred course of action. Be It Further Resolved that the Task Force shall complete its work and be dissolved by February 28, 2005; and that the Mayor, City Council and Library Board shall agree on a course of action by March 31, 2005. Be It Further Resolved that if an economically feasible alternative to provide for a greatly enhanced library building designed to accommodate improved services is not identified and agreed on, the Mayor and City Council will support Minneapolis Public Library's bonding request for capital improvements for Walker Library including replacement of the parking deck in 2005. REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
