ࡱ> 02/@ NbjbjFF ",,N    ,,,,,q s s s s s s $ R2  ,, ! ! ! ,,q ! q ! ! ! ,  kb"! q 0 ! ! ! PLS6! ,Z d dResidents, officials consider plans for new library project by Jeffrey K. Lyles Staff Writer  Jan. 6, 2005 Mount Rainier residents and officials are discussing a plan to tear down the town's approximately 50-year-old library building. During a public forum in December, they reached a consensus to replace it with a multi-story complex that would include a library and other rental sections to defray the cost of construction. Neighborhood Design Center Program Manager Jan Townshend offered to provide designs of the site that would be displayed around March of this year, Mayor Bryan Knedler said. "It's not costing us anything to put the ideas out there on paper," he added. Members of the Friends of the Library (FOL) contend the library building, at 3409 Rhode Island Ave., is falling apart, further evidenced with a leak in February 2004 and a boiler failure in December. Mount Rainier owns the library but it is one of the few such facilities the county has no control. Additionally, the city is responsible for all repairs and renovations. "The boiler failed a few weeks ago and we had to repair the roof earlier in the year," said Mayor Knedler. "Every time something goes wrong we have to dump more money into it." City Manager Jeannelle Wallace estimated that with renovations, utilities, air conditioning, roof and other repairs, the city has spent $40,000 in the last year 18 months on the building. "I like the idea of having a new building," said FOL member Ivy Thompson. "It'll be great for the community because the existing one is costing the city so much to maintain. Having a new building will also be more cost effective." Meanwhile, FOL member Michelle Sust said she is also very happy the city is moving forward with plans to improve the existing library. "We just need to get that library secured in there for the services to the community," Sust said. "This is very important for the city." The FOL had planned to move the library into the Mount Rainier Artspace building and were more optimistic about the plan after receiving a $200,000 state legacy grant. However, a redesign of the Artspace facility resulted in excluding the library from the plan. Meanwhile, Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington moved next door to the library in 2002 to set up his county office. This prevented the city from making significant changes to the building that would have benefited the library. Van Hollen could only sign a lease for his first term but now has to sign a new lease in order to remain at the location. The city spent $20,000 to renovate the office and Knedler said it [the city] would break even on construction costs and eventually make a profit from the payment of rent in the future. With a new building at least another five years off, due to designing, fundraising and actual construction, Knedler said he is hopeful the city would be able to rent out the former police station, possibly as an artist studio. The council is waiting to hear from Townshend before it makes a decision on future plans for the library, Knedler said. E-mail Jeffrey K. Lyles at jyles@gazette.net GAZETTE ;<OP\^_BKLMNhYhCJOJQJaJy(jhCJOJQJUaJh6CJOJQJ]aJh5CJOJQJ\aJhCJOJQJaJh5CJOJQJ\aJ <^`n u w1DMNgdgdN 1h/ =!"#$%Dd!<P  3 3"((@@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontRi@R  Table Normal4 l4a (k@(No List4U`4  Hyperlink >*phB^`B  Normal (Web)dd[$\$N <^`nu w1  D M P 00x0000x0000000 000 000000x0  M P ^>04bI\>0\>0JHH$\I N N N 8@0(  B S  ?f'!g'[h'\!i'"j'[`nuP l{P :*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsStreet;*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsaddress9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplace8*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsdate 120056DayMonthYearOVUYLT 2 9 & -   D K P <>D L P 3C K M P D K P NMlA5@ +q rcG~'0b*?17 -!}#-u'01`O14;&-;.b<x7E"{ET:FcGIlJ\LY:yY \,\A_s{c:geUsiTl%lOs{vV{Ils. CFxaU4l?A. rn2?OY eI.8B {E'ri R'_@K K H K K @{N P@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial7&  Verdana"qhj5m5x x !24dH H 3H)?:yY;Residents, officials consider plans for new library project  Oh+'0  (4 P \ ht|<Residents, officials consider plans for new library projectesi sisisiNormalt rm1rmMicrosoft Word 10.0@Ik@L/vb@ybx ՜.+,0$ hp|   eH  <Residents, officials consider plans for new library project Title  !"#$%&()*+,-.1Root Entry F@b3Data 1TableWordDocument"SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8'CompObjj  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q