The Walnut Creek Library is on track for a $46 million dollar upgrade, complete with underground parking garage. From the sound of things, the powers that be still need to hammer out some details. Nevertheless, the council approved a pre-construction contract. The 42,000 square foot facility will reside in downtown Walnut Creek. Read more in the Contra Costa Times.
Library On Track For $46 Million Facility
Cyberpunk Librarian
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Um, there is no money to run it.
It seems to me that this Taj Mahal of Information is not such a good idea. A library is not a building, it is a service. They would probably be better off with a nice plain building. Flat walls and square corners, I know that is not on the cutting edge of library design, but you get what you can afford.
You can’t tell me you can’t build a 42,000 square foot library and a nice, plain above ground parking garage for less than 46 million. Heck I would guess you can build it for 23 million and then pay to run it! If you don’t like the plain concrete parking garage, that sponge painting looks really nice.
$1096 per square foot, OK they rolled up 3.5MM in ancillary stuff like books and computers – you know that afterthought sort of stuff for a library, but it still is in the neighborhood of $1K per square foot, and that is once nice neighborhood.
So when they can’t handle the debt service on the building because tax revenues are down because real estate prices have returned to almost not insane levels thus ad valorem receipts have taken a dive perhaps they will look here at LISNews and exclaim. Holy Melville Dewey we should have build a library we could both pay for and operate.
I’m sure the coffee at the coffee kiosk will be dandy, I’ll have a half-caf double Jamesons please.