Library board narrows relocation possibilities to two

The library board pared its list of potential library sites to two - the Emerald Knights block and The Gazette Communications block - as it moves toward a recommendation to the City Council.

The final decision for the location of a new library rests with the City Council, but Mayor Ron Corbett has asked the library board to make a recommendation, and Thursday's monthly board meeting was devoted to that.

The losers were the TrueNorth and Banjo Equipment blocks, both between Fourth and Fifth Avenues SE, to the south and east of Greene Square Park. Library board members said both sites were plagued by uncertainties, especially parking and flood insurance.

“My heart calls out for the TrueNorth site,” said Doug Elliott, board vice president, referring to the aesthetics of a library looking across Greene Square Park to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. “But there are so many what ifs.”

Ultimately, four board members listed as their first choice the Emerald Knights site between First and Second Avenues and Seventh and Eighth Streets SE. Three members listed their first choice as The Gazette Communications block, on the north corner of Greene Square Park.

“My first choice is Emerald Knights,” Board Member Harriet Kalinsky said, adding she doesn't want the new library anywhere near the Cedar River. “I am just not willing to risk it again.”

The library board sees the Emerald Knights site as a safe potential gateway to downtown Cedar Rapids from Interstate 380. Perhaps with commercial development thrown into the plans, a library there could breathe new life into the underdeveloped no man's land between the medical district and downtown.

Parking loomed large in the board's discussion, dooming TrueNorth, and bringing The Gazette Communications block, a latecomer to the potential library party, to the fore. The KCRG-TV9 building is connected to a good parking ramp that architects think would go far in satisfying the new library's parking needs.

“I do like that it has the association with Greene Square Park,” Susan Corrigan, library board president, said of The Gazette block. “And it has a little more comfort zone than TrueNorth with the flooding.”

The block sits next to the Museum of Art, and took on no water during the flood.

Library Director Bob Pasicznyuk and Cedar Rapids Real Estate Development Coordinator Marty Hoeger will negotiate with property owners in the two blocks over the next month. Based on how the bargaining goes, the library board will come up with a final recommendation for the city council on Feb. 4.

The council hopes to address the issue at its next meeting, which would be Feb. 10, Corrigan said.

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