Old Library’s Renaissance Tab Grows

It’s sticker shock for taxpayers in Salt Lake City , where the new multi-faceted museum project, the Leonardo (the former Main Library), is going to cost $33 million dollars, thirteen million more than originally projected.

Mayor Rocky Anderson is pushing the plan – he has sent e-mails to City Council members – and insiders are scrambling to lobby for a sales-tax revenue bond. The term would extend 20 years.
Mary Tull, Leonardo’s director, points to staggering spikes on everything from seismic stabilization and asbestos removal to certifying the building as environmentally sound.
“We have been struggling with the architects and the city to try to get the architectural budget down during this horrendous scope of inflation,” Tull said. “It’s unreal.”