Central Library Overhaul Saves
Popular St. Paul Branch
The anticipated closing in 2001 of the St. Paul (Minn.) Public Library’s Central Library for an 18-month makeover has prompted Mayor Norm Coleman to reverse his February cost-cutting decision to shutter the system’s popular Skyway Branch, which is located just five blocks away. The April 28 announcement, which was made hours before the Skyway Branch was slated to close its doors for good, came after the mayor realized that closing both facilities would leave the downtown without a library for an extended period, according to the April 29 Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Originally, city officials had balked at an anticipated five-year lease of $500,000 to keep the Skyway Library at its current storefront location. But word of the branch’s demise triggered 50 complaints to City Hall. City Finance Director Joe Reid said officials will reconsider the branch’s viability when the new $80,000-a-year lease nears its expiration in 2003.
The plan under consideration hinges on the Friends selling $13.5 million in bonds that the city would buy back from bondholders over a four-year period.
Posted May 8, 2000.
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