TrueNorth still willing to talk about library site

The TrueNorth site may have been eliminated by the library board, but owners of the building are still willing to negotiate with the city to make way for a new library there.

“Until City Council votes and they sign a contract and buy a piece of real estate, who knows what's going to happen,” said Randy Rings, general counsel for TrueNorth.

The TrueNorth block south of Greene Square Park was one of two potential library sites the library board decided not to recommend to the City Council at a meeting Thursday.

The board decided to begin negotiations with owners of the Emerald Knights block at the corner of Second Avenue and Eighth Street SE and the Gazette Communications block on the north corner of Greene Square Park.

The TrueNorth site - despite its appeal in looking across the park at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art - didn't make the cut because parking and a construction schedule are too uncertain. Also, the block took on water during the flood.

The City Council will make a final library site decision in February. One council member, Pat Shey, came out in support of the TrueNorth site on Friday.

Rings, of TrueNorth, said his company has stopped planning for a possible move, unless the council decides to take another look at the site. His company, he said, is not looking to move but will do so if the library pays them enough to relocate - around $3.5 million, plus $4 million for the site itself.

“I don't know that we necessarily have a strong view on what the right answer is,” Rings said. “We really don't want to be the roadblock. If people conclude it's the right thing to do for Cedar Rapids, we want to try to do our part to help.”