The city council has given the signal to start construction of a new San Diego library which will be centrally located in Downtown’s East Village of San Diego.
The building of a new central library has been repeatedly talked about for years now in the county. Rob Quigely, an architect, has already made the design back in the 1990s. The dome buildings are to be built in the East Village, on Park Boulevard. The site was chosen ten years after the design was created. The library is located directly across from Park Terrace & Icon. Now, a contract will finally be signed to initiate the construction.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders reiterated to the council that already $17 million have been spent on the planning of the library. More than $100 million has already been scraped together as of now. The first phase of the construction alone has been estimated to amount to $150 million. And almost 20 years have been invested into planning the central library.
Opponents of the library’s construction, such as Hudd Collins and Carl DeMaio, criticized the decision. They say it’s too much public spending from a state that is already in severe financial crisis. Councilwoman Sheri Lightner is also worried about it. She foresees a gap in the funding of the project, and has no assurance that the funds can be raised by the 2013 deadline. If the funds will not be available, the city will be made liable and will have to come up with the funds to complete the library.
Mel Katz, member of the San Diego Library Foundation, believes that once the deal has been signed, many more philanthropists will help. At present, they have already raised over $30 million for the project. Councilwoman Marti Emerald likewise voted for the project. According to her, the planned construction will create 1,000 jobs for the unemployed people in San Diego. She proposes that the project start immediately.
Mike Aguirre, a former attorney in the city, is also against the project, saying the city is actually breaching laws on liability limits. This is because the council will be signing a contract saying that they have to pay a certain amount of money that the city doesn’t have. The lawyer accused Irwin Jacobs, the library’s biggest donor, of harming the city by giving money for the project. Jacobs has already given $30 million to get the project started.
Many other critics fear that this move could just be the beginning. Plans for expansion and the construction of a new city hall, convention center and stadium may already be in the works.
The motion was presented to 8 councilmembers by councilman Kevin Faulconer. The motion to start construction passed 6 to 2.
Its time to get something done. I would have liked to have seen a partnership between private and public groups to help finance and continue to bring in additional revenue for the library. There still may be opportunity to do this down the road. Only time will tell and I think this library will really help finalize the East Village especially with the new Thomas Jefferson School of Law being built just a block a way.
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