New vs. old: Let costs decide
One thing should be clear in the city of Greenwood’s ongoing discussions about a public library upgrade: something needs to be done to better the current facility. It may be a whole new facility, or it may be a remodeling/expansion of the historic 1934 structure in which the library is now located, but doing nothing should not be an option.
As the city considers jumping onto the FEMA grant train that’s steaming through the area lately, promise of a new library facility -- funded mostly by federal funds because it would also serve as a community storm shelter -- is high. The city should be looking into the possibility, because government grants don’t just fall from the sky that often. Still, even if FEMA would come through with funding, the city could be on the hook for a few hundred thousand dollars to fund the interior of a new library. That’s still a high price tag, and one a good portion of taxpayers may not want to cover.
The city -- as it should be -- is also looking into the cost of renovating/ expanding the current library building. The current library space is by far the smallest of any of the 10 public libraries in Clark County, the space is split up by multiple walls, it is not designed for persons with disabilities, and the building itself has problems with everything from old windows to a moldy basement. Those issues, of course, can be fixed, but only with an outlay of considerable money. Is it the best idea to throw new money into an old building? The cost estimates currently being sought should help answer that question.
Renovating/expanding the current library could be looked favorably upon by those seeking to preserve a piece of the city’s past. The former City Hall building has been a fixture on Greenwood’s Main Street for almost 90 years now, and remodeling it while retaining its unique stone appearance would be appealing. After all, the city just spent more than $100,000 to fix up a museum to its past, why would it not want to preserve a piece of standing history?
Again, cost should be the determining factor. If an architect deems it wildly expensive to open up space in the existing structure and to construct an addition to give the library the room it deserves, then attention should focus on the potential FEMA grant and a new building. Preserving history just for the sake of it at an exorbitant cost is in no ones’s best interest.
We offer no opinion on which choice the city should make as it’s a premature exercise until all cost options are known. This we say firmly, however -- something needs to be done. The city has spent significant funds recently to improve its City Hall, the Branstiter Old Streets of Greenwood museum, its parks, etc. and now it’s the library’s turn. The citizens who use it value it just as much as others value other assets in the community.
