Don’t build a Taj Mahal library, Boise council members are told at a town hall
Members of the Boise City Council came to the Library! at Bown Crossing on Thursday evening to hear residents on budget issues.
They got that, but the 45 people who attended the fourth in a series of quarterly town hall meetings also had other issues they wanted council members to hear. Such as the proposed new Downtown library.
Several people said the $85 million the city plans to spend on the new library next to the Boise River at Capitol Boulevard is way too expensive. One woman called it a Taj Mahal.
“Everyone agrees the library needs to be replaced, but not for that much money,” Pete Barnes said.
Another man said the city should be able to build the library for between $25 million and $40 million. “Fifty million dollars would be too much, he said.
With tears streaming down her face, 14-year-old Audrey Blessinger said she worried that the sweeping, curved entrance to the proposed library would be difficult for people in wheelchairs to navigate and that it would be intimidating. She also worried about birds flying along the river and whether they might crash into the tall windows planned for the structure.
Blessinger admitted to being nervous. Councilwoman Lisa Sanchez walked over to where she was standing and put her arm around the teenager as she regained her composure and continued to speak.
Other speakers encouraged the council to consider building additional branch libraries throughout the city.
In 2008, the Boise Public Library system opened branches in leased spaces in the Collister Shopping Center on State Street and in the Hillcrest Shopping Center at Orchard Street and Overland Road. The following year, a newly built branch opened at Cole and Ustick roads. A newly built branch at Bown Crossing opened in 2017.
Several people raised concerns about moving The Cabin from next to the river across the street to Julia Davis Park. Plans call for The Cabin’s current space to be used for the new library. One woman said she would like to see it moved across Capitol Boulevard.
There were also concerns about how the library will be financed and how much it will cost to maintain the building. Several people asked for more transparency so they could understand where the money will come from and how it will be spent.
Council President Lauren McLean said she hadn’t known what to expect when she suggested going to different parts of town every quarter to listen to residents’ concerns and suggestions. “I thought it would be really fun, but I didn’t know how the others would feel,” McLean told the audience.
Each of the other five — Elaine Clegg, T.J. Thomson, Scot Ludwig, Sanchez and Holli Woodings — said they appreciated being able to listen to residents in a setting less formal than a City Council meeting. Each took notes as people spoke during the two-hour meeting. Mayor David Bieter did not attend.
Other suggestions residents offered included:
▪ Replacing the dilapidated clubhouse at the city-owned Warm Springs Golf Course.
▪ Focusing on building compliance with Americans With Disabilities regulations. Woodings said the city is working to conduct accessibility audits of buildings in the city and to begin looking at ADA compliance with new buildings as plans are submitted.
▪ That City Council positions be elected by wards. Council members said they like not having wards and having each member represent the entire city. Sanchez, who joined the council in January 2018, said she wasn’t sure she would have been elected if she could only campaign in the North End, where she rents her home.
▪ Managing growth in a way that keeps the city livable.
▪ Working with the state and other cities to create a travel corridor between Boise and Caldwell to make commuting easier.
This story was originally published February 21, 2019 at 9:53 PM.
