City Council selects TrueNorth for library relocation

Cedar Rapids city council voted 7-2 in favor of building a new library on the TrueNorth Property which sits across the street from Greene Square Park.

The TrueNorth site is more expensive than the other two options, but the council felt this spot was the best choice for the community.

"We want to support something together and move forward and make it happen,” council member Chuck Swore said.

The council chose TrueNorth because it's close to Greene Square Park, near the heart of the downtown and fits into the council's overall vision for the city.

Council members Don Karr and Chuck Wieneke were the only two dissenting votes. They voted for Emerald Knights location because of reservations about the TrueNorth site.

"The two top items I had were the fear of future flooding affecting the library and cost for those two reasons. I still believe Emerald Knights would have been the best one,” Wieneke said.

Just a few weeks ago, the Library Board unanimously selected the Gazette Communications block as its top choice. Even though the council didn't agree with that decision, the library director isn't disappointed.

"When you put together all the things that make a great library, the actual location of it would be down on my list,” Library Director Bob Pasicznyuk said.

The director says the books, materials, programs and staff members will ultimately shape the library more so than the building's address.

FEMA will put approximately $26 million toward the new public library. That $26 million includes the cost to get the land ready, prepare parking spaces and build a portion of the new structure.

A state I-Jobs grant will cover another $10 million of the cost. That means the library will need to raise approximately ten million dollars to complete the project. The total cost is estimated to be about $45.5 million.

TrueNorth has told the city it can be off the property by the summer of 2011.

By Mark Geary, KCRG-TV 9