Decision for Jasper Library site a step closer
After more than 10 years and over $300,000.00, the board is paring down its final choices for a 2016 referendum for the Jasper Public Library.
The board will not consider using the existing facility either by upgrading or updating. According to engineering reports, the condition of the building is questionable making renovations untenable and any addition onto the facility would be unwise.
While the same question can be put to the Hoosier Desk building, it appears that the facility is worth the investment because of what can be gained in more space and co-existence with the Jasper Arts Center and the development of the site into a main attraction in the downtown area.
It’s clear that the Jasper mayor and Jasper Arts Commission would like to see the Hoosier Desk option happen. But, the library board has been slow to adopt that same view, instead preferring a deliberate, methodical approach to vetting of the Hoosier Desk building as their new home.
Phase one of the environmental study on the Hoosier Desk site is done. The tome is 300 pages long. Phase two is underway.
The library board has set a special executive session on Monday, May18th to consider the facts and whether to commit to either location.
Would the choice of the Hoosier Desk building be better than choosing their existing site and purchasing additional properties so that a new library could be constructed with an offer to the Jasper Arts Center to join them there?
All questions that will be answered in the coming months.
The board originally wanted to be able to make a final decision in June, but they acknowledged that it won’t come that soon. “We had originally set out an objective to make a decision in our June meeting, as it is with the timeline for some of the work to be completed,” Library Board president Dean Vonderheide said. “Christine and I were informed that in order to make a good decision with all of the facts in front of us the July decision time frame would probably be the most likely now.”
The challenge facing the library board is that they still must choose between the two options and that compresses the time frame needed to get the referendum on the ballot.
The negative vote on the 2011 referendum still hits close to home with the library board, even though there are many new board members who weren’t there when the decision was made.
And, there still remains a question as to why the vote failed in 2011. Was it because of the site (the south Newton Street location) or the money (over $7 million for the new facility)?
That has led the board members to an extra-sensitivity on both topics. The south Newton Street location has already been rejected as a possible location for a new library, even though property at that location was subsequently offered to the board as a donation.
The cost of another library, too, is equally sensitive but Vonderheide says he believes the cost for either the Hoosier Desk or the Main Street location would not be that high.
I would hope that our future and the costs for a future library collaboratively would be less than what we had in the referendum,” he said. “I think the total solution is going to be much less expensive for the taxpayers.”
Golden said reducing the size of a new library by taking advantage of common areas between the library and the Jasper Arts Center would help bring the cost down. She said, “we looked at scaling back our size” as a way to accomplish that.
One concept that has grown out of the push to get the library and arts center in the same facility is the synergy between the two organizations.
The library board has even suggested to the Arts Commission that the library and Arts Center could be built on the Main Street site as an expanded facility.
Vonderheide says that it’s been discussed, “we’ve talked about that and we’d like them to be with us, no matter which location.”
But, he acknowledged that there are challenges for that to happen at either place. “There’s no easy street here. There’s challenges with this site [the Main Street location] as well. Because we’d have to look at acquisitions of adjacent properties, demolition of that, and the construction,” he said.
Golden said that the library and arts center on Main Street would change the configuration because of the space requirements for both organizations.
As for the special meeting on May 18th, it represents another step closer to making the decision. And, with fresh faces and apparent positive cooperation among the library board members, it appears that the library and arts center coming together could be a reality.
Also in the Thursday night meeting:
-Board member Bill Hewitt asked if the board thought that he should step down due to the fact that he is preparing to sell his house in Jasper and move to Evansville. Several members stated that the decision rests solely with him. Hewitt acknowledged that resigning now would allow the Greater Jasper School Board to assign a new member to the library board before more serious decisions are made on the new location.
