What’s going on with the sale of Boise’s Carnegie Library to the state of Idaho?
It’s been three years since Idaho legislators approved funding for the state to purchase the historic Carnegie Public Library in Boise.
Today, the building’s doors and first-floor windows are boarded up, and the property at 815 W. Washington St. is listed as still owned by Swanby Investment Group, the company that bought the building in 2019.
So what’s the status of the sale?
“We’re still progressing with active negotiations with the seller, which are going well, and we hope that the deal closes soon,” Department of Administration director Steve Bailey wrote in an email to me Tuesday.
No word on why it’s taken so long to get the deal done. Shawn Swanby, a University of Idaho graduate and CEO of Ednetics, a North Idaho education technology services firm, who bought the property in 2019, didn’t respond to an email or voicemail.
If the sale closes, it will be a long time coming.
Idaho legislators passed a bill approving $2.3 million for the purchase and design work of the Carnegie Library on the last day of the 2021 session, May 12.
At the time, the intended purpose was to use part of the building for the University of Idaho law school.
The University of Idaho subsequently leased space in the Concordia Law building, after Concordia shut down its Boise law school.
The funding bill didn’t stipulate that it had to be used for the law school.
The bill included $2.1 million for purchase of the property and $200,000 to begin the design phase, with the stipulation to come back later with a plan and another funding request to renovate the building.
Estimates at the time were $6 million to $8 million to renovate the building. Of course, that was three years ago, and construction costs have risen.
At the time, Jill Randolph, a senior legislative budget and policy analyst, told legislators that Swanby wished to sell the building in the coming months, and Keith Reynolds, then-director of the Department of Administration, said Swanby was willing to sell the building at the price he bought it for and donate the $1 million worth of renovations completed so far.
The building is currently assessed at $2.4 million. Swanby paid taxes of about $26,000 in 2021, $21,000 in 2022, and in 2023 had a tax bill of $22,633, of which he’s paid about half.
Carnegie Library history
The building served as the city’s library from 1905 until 1973, when the library moved to its current location on Capitol Boulevard.
The building then became law offices until 2018, when it came on the market.
The state apparently had an opportunity to buy it then, but a tiff between the House and Senate over House office space in the Idaho Capitol killed any chance for the state to buy it.
Boise developer Ken Howell had announced plans to buy the building with a proposal to turn it into a space for artists, but those plans were later scuttled.
Then, in 2019, Swanby purchased the building for “near the asking price,” according to previous Statesman reporting. It had been listed by Colliers International for $1.3 million.
Swanby planned to turn the building into office space for Ednetics and for public use, involving extensive renovations that he estimated at the time would take about a year.
Those plans haven’t panned out.
Idaho ownership
If the deal to sell the property to the state works out, it will be a good thing.
It’s a beautiful building with an important history that deserves to be preserved.
Built in 1904, the building was designed by John Tourtellete and Charles Hummel, of Tourtellete and Co., the same architects who designed the state Capitol, the Egyptian Theatre and Boise High, along with dozens of other iconic Idaho buildings.
The Carnegie Library was dedicated May 3, 1905, renovated in 1914, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
It was part of a movement at the turn of the last century to build libraries all over the country, at the behest of Andrew Carnegie, businessman and philanthropist, who donated millions of dollars for the libraries’ construction.
There were an estimated 1,689 Carnegie libraries built in the United States, including 11 in Idaho, nine of which are still standing.
Carnegie gave the city $20,000 for a new building, the city donated $4,000 more and the Columbian Club an additional $1,000. The Boise school board donated the site at the corner of Eighth and Washington, only a block from the Capitol.
The building sits on a little less than an acre kitty-corner to the Capitol, on the northside of State Street.
The two-story, 13,000-square-foot French Renaissance building was constructed of materials local to Boise, according to the nomination form to the National Register of Historic Places. The beige pressed brick was made in Boise, and the sandstone used in the foundation and trim was quarried from Table Rock.
Legislative action
Support for the state to purchase the building was not unanimous.
Then-Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, opposed the sale, arguing that the state didn’t need a place to hold parties, noting a banquet hall on the second floor.
Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, was concerned about the cost to buy and renovate the building.
But the bill to fund the purchase passed 46-19-4 in the House and 26-1-8 in the Senate.
“It’s really a truly unique historic building, and I think it deserves preservation and deserves a good use and a good owner that can take care of the property in the long run,” Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said on the Senate floor at the time.
And if there’s any entity with pockets deep enough to restore the building to its former glory, it’s the state of Idaho, which has been running billion-dollar surpluses in recent years.
If the state does buy it and renovate it, it should open it up to the public. This should be the people’s house, not just an event and entertainment center for the governor and legislators.
Rep. Matt Bundy, R-Mountain Home, told his fellow legislators during the House floor debate that the city of Mountain Home took over its Carnegie Library for use as a museum.
The city holds a fundraiser every year, bringing the community together.
“It reminds us of Idaho of 1915,” Bundy said. “These types of buildings bring communities together. They give us a sense of community, they give us a sense of history.”
If done right, under the ownership of the state of Idaho, Boise’s Carnegie Library could serve that purpose, as well.
