Big council decision: new or remodeled library?
One major issue awaiting final determination by the City Council is the future of the city’s public library—an essential institution that has helped fulfill this community’s educational and cultural needs ever since the library’s 1913 inaugural year.
The matter is simply stated: should the library’s existing building be remodeled and expanded or should a new, larger facility be located elsewhere in a revitalized Town Center?
An answer is tied into complex financial considerations, since a new structure designed to meet recommended space requirements and the community’s service needs would cost an estimated $30 million to build and outfit.
Not every council member has addressed the question in public, but a majority appears to favor a larger library on a different Town Center site—if enough money is available from the library’s reserve fund, a potential bond sale with identified reimbursement sources and proceeds from selling the current library property.
At a recent meeting, council members heard, questioned and discussed recommendations from a consultant hired to explore the issue and who delivered a 145-page library “Space Needs Assessment and Building Program” report with a 46-page appendix.
Basically, the detailed study, which gathered public input from a “statistically valid” 515-response survey, 49 focus-group participants and additional interviews, cited a need for a 50,820-square-foot facility to serve the city’s 70,000 build-out population, to replace the current 28,350-square-foot structure, last renovated in 1992.
Of course, with 335,798 visitors logged during the most recent full fiscal year, averaging more than 1,000 each day the facility is open, the library easily holds the record as Yorba Linda’s most-utilized city-owned building.
The current collection of about 160,600 items--expected to grow to 210,000 by 2030--is 86 percent books and 14 percent audio-visual materials and had an annual circulation of 815,000 last year. Interestingly, children’s material is checked out more than three times as much as adult materials.
A new building, with from 153 to 204 parking spaces replacing the existing 83, and landscaping would cost about $20 million to design and build. Another $10 million would fund furniture, fixtures, equipment, technology, public art and contingencies.
The library has a property tax allocation due to 71 years as an independent district before the city took control in 1985 and $10 million in reserves. A bond sale could be paid back by the library fund and pass-through payments from the city-run Redevelopment Agency, totaling $449,315 last year.
Another study by a consultant hired to prepare a market analysis of city-owned Old Town property has reported that 20,500 square feet of retail and restaurant usage, developed at a cost of $4.1 million, could produce $664,000 in rents each year from the library site.
Estimated rents of $36 per square foot “are much higher than the asking rents at other properties in the city; however, the site offers excellent visibility from major arterials,” including the busy Imperial Highway, the consultant noted in a 68-page specific study of development possibilities in the downtown area.
The city-owned site is 81,560 square feet, including the fenced-in, former gas station property, currently undergoing extensive remediation for underground contamination.
The matter is simply stated: should the library’s existing building be remodeled and expanded or should a new, larger facility be located elsewhere in a revitalized Town Center?
An answer is tied into complex financial considerations, since a new structure designed to meet recommended space requirements and the community’s service needs would cost an estimated $30 million to build and outfit.
Not every council member has addressed the question in public, but a majority appears to favor a larger library on a different Town Center site—if enough money is available from the library’s reserve fund, a potential bond sale with identified reimbursement sources and proceeds from selling the current library property.
At a recent meeting, council members heard, questioned and discussed recommendations from a consultant hired to explore the issue and who delivered a 145-page library “Space Needs Assessment and Building Program” report with a 46-page appendix.
Basically, the detailed study, which gathered public input from a “statistically valid” 515-response survey, 49 focus-group participants and additional interviews, cited a need for a 50,820-square-foot facility to serve the city’s 70,000 build-out population, to replace the current 28,350-square-foot structure, last renovated in 1992.
Of course, with 335,798 visitors logged during the most recent full fiscal year, averaging more than 1,000 each day the facility is open, the library easily holds the record as Yorba Linda’s most-utilized city-owned building.
The current collection of about 160,600 items--expected to grow to 210,000 by 2030--is 86 percent books and 14 percent audio-visual materials and had an annual circulation of 815,000 last year. Interestingly, children’s material is checked out more than three times as much as adult materials.
A new building, with from 153 to 204 parking spaces replacing the existing 83, and landscaping would cost about $20 million to design and build. Another $10 million would fund furniture, fixtures, equipment, technology, public art and contingencies.
The library has a property tax allocation due to 71 years as an independent district before the city took control in 1985 and $10 million in reserves. A bond sale could be paid back by the library fund and pass-through payments from the city-run Redevelopment Agency, totaling $449,315 last year.
Another study by a consultant hired to prepare a market analysis of city-owned Old Town property has reported that 20,500 square feet of retail and restaurant usage, developed at a cost of $4.1 million, could produce $664,000 in rents each year from the library site.
Estimated rents of $36 per square foot “are much higher than the asking rents at other properties in the city; however, the site offers excellent visibility from major arterials,” including the busy Imperial Highway, the consultant noted in a 68-page specific study of development possibilities in the downtown area.
The city-owned site is 81,560 square feet, including the fenced-in, former gas station property, currently undergoing extensive remediation for underground contamination.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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