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Chopper 5 video of new library construction
Construction of Salt Lake City's new library is on schedule, but a vexing question hangs over the adjacent open space.
And the budget requires an answer, soon.
Cost overruns threaten Salt Lake City's new library project if a bit of unfinished business isn't resolved quickly.
Next week, the city council is hoping to finally decide what to do with the rest of the block.
Government Specialist Richard Piatt has details.
The issue isn't with the library building itself. It's with the east end of the block, and what to do with it---or not do with it.
From a distance, stunning architecture draws your attention to the library block.
But it's the area to the east, or right of the buildings, that's drawing a different kind of attention.
Nothing is there now.
And that's just the way a lot of people want to keep it.
Construction on the new $92-million library has gotten to the point where decisions need to be made about what's going to happen on the rest of the block.
Especially pressing is the question of how to fill in the giant holes.
If housing is eventually built here, that would require a different kind of preparation than a park would--both are options here.
A mistake could cost a lot of money. And at least one city council member wants to make sure the public has had enough time to consider both options.
Nancy Saxton/City Council Member: WHAT'S THE HURRY? GOOD PLANNING TAKES TIME. OUR PROCESS, THE PUBLIC PROCESS TAKES TIME. AND I SEE THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE, WE HAVE TIME.
But the contractor has suggested April 1st as a date to decide how to proceed, in order to keep the whole project on schedule.
For that reason, another city council member wants to make a decision next week.
Dave Buhler/City Council Member: I THINK THE TIME HAS COME TO DECIDE AND NOT PROLONG THIS. OTHERWISE IT COULD COST US MONEY IN THE LONG RUN.
Caught in the middle of the debate are the folks at the library, who make it clear that open space makes sense for the library block as a whole.
Nancy Tessman/Director, Salt Lake Public Library: WE'VE BEEN AT SO MANY OF THOSE MEETINGS, LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF THEM OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, WHERE NOT ONLY THE LIBRARY BUT THE FUTURE OF THE BLOCK HAS BEEN DISCUSSED, THAT I FEEL WE'VE DONE AN ADEQUATE JOB OF TALKING ABOUT IT WITH THE PUBLIC AT LARGE.
