Board may reconsider new site for Greenwood library

This month, library trustees are expected to reconsider an earlier unanimous decision to locate a new $6.4 million neighborhood library at the site of McDonald's restaurant.

The board has not made a final decision, but library officials have asked the city's law department to stop condemnation procedures for the property at North 85th Street and Greenwood Avenue North.

"The board is leaning toward reconsidering the site," said Alexandra Harris, the library's capital projects manager.

After reviewing two development proposals for that site, the board believed they did not meet the needs of the library, Harris said.

So the board will re-examine the current library location, at North 81st Street and Greenwood Avenue North. It will meet again Aug. 28.

The news brought disbelief, even anger, from some neighbors who had been working for months to come up with concepts for how the library would be incorporated into the neighborhood's commercial core.

"We're all sitting here thinking this is out of left field," said Michael McGinn, president of the Greenwood Community Council. He said many people were frustrated over the fact that the library is changing gears in the middle of the process.

McGinn said the community, library and landowner "have been involved in a long, thoughtful process to figure out how to build a great library in Greenwood."

Harris informed the council of the possible changes at a meeting Tuesday night.

At the July board meeting, the Greenwood Shopping Center Inc. and Housing Resources Group submitted proposals.

The proposal from Greenwood Shopping Center, which owns the land, offered a long-term lease for the library on the building's second level. City librarian Deborah Jacobs said the library prefers a site that has a strong civic presence, street-level access and to own its own property.

The non-profit Housing Resources Group submitted a second proposal that involved building from 70 to 80 affordable apartments, in addition to the library and commercial space. But Jacobs stressed that an affordable housing project was not supported by the community.

The library spent $7,500 and the city's housing office spent $7,500 to study that second development.

Harris said a new library at the existing site could accommodate underground parking and about 14,600 square feet of library space, not far from the goal of a 15,000-square-foot facility, or double the size of the current library.

She said the new library could be built there without having to condemn two adjacent homes, as officials previously thought was needed.

In January 2000, the library board began a community process to find a suitable site for the new library.

After two community meetings that drew about 300 people, the board voted unanimously to go with the McDonald's site.

Some had opposed locating the library in the congested arterial, but others supported the McDonald's site because it complemented the neighborhood's urban-village plans. Yet, there was also strong support to keep the library where it was.

When library officials introduced initial designs last winter for a single-building library, neighbors complained that the structure did not fit in with the high-density area and had too much surface parking.

Neighbors formed a library liaison committee and met over several months to come up with a wish list for the new library development. The group recommended promoting a mixed-use development, encouraging more pedestrian activities and making better use of the zoning density.

Meanwhile, the city began condemnation proceedings.

Library officials then shifted their attention to the current location, when it seemed that the library was no longer a key part of the development on the McDonald's site.

Rob Fellows, who headed the liaison committee, said he was surprised and befuddled by the shift in plans.

"We all thought that there could be things that could be improved through negotiation," Fellows said.

The library board meets at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 28 in the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, 2021 Ninth Ave.

P-I reporter Phuong Cat Le can be reached at 206-448-8336 or phuongle@seattlepi.com

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