Letter to the Editor: Geneva's library director points out process, challenges of moving to the Cetron site.
To the Editor:
In light of Mike Bruno’s June 8 blog post, I would like to highlight some of the issues related to the Cetron building.
The library deals with space issues on a daily basis at our current site. We have tried to communicate this as best we can to the general public. I feel it is important to remind everyone that our district serves a significantly larger population than just the city of Geneva.
To put it in perspective, the center of the Library District is actually near Delnor Hospital. While the population of Geneva is about 21,000, the Geneva Library District serves over 30,000 people. That means we have a significant number of taxpayers outside the city limits that we are responsible to.
Our current Library building will not meet the needs of the future Library District. We are trying very hard to keep the library in the downtown area. The downtown as described by the city of Geneva is from Eastside Drive to the east and Anderson Blvd. to the west. Cetron is certainly in the downtown area as defined by the city.
The library staff and board continually watch the trends of libraries to determine which services are going to be best utilized by our patrons. There is no question that the library is and will remain a vital part of any community, but the space usage will certainly shift. We are closely monitoring current trends and adjusting our services to best serve our patrons now and to help us plan for a new building for the future.
As the library began the process of purchasing the Cetron property, the question of the condition of the Cetron building itself has been of interest to the board. That is why the library contracted with an engineer in 2011 to have a preliminary analysis done on the building. The results of the report were presented to the board in closed session in June 2011, as the subject of the report is related to the pending property purchase.
The engineer evaluated the Cetron building to the fullest extent that he could. We do not have a completed contract with the owner for the land so cannot conduct a full structural or soil analysis until both parties have signed the contract.
In spite of what has been written, a one-floor option for a new library has never been the chosen floor configuration consideration by the board. A single floor would be ideal from the standpoint of avoiding stairs and elevators, but one of the reasons we would like to move to a new location is to obtain parking space that we lack right now. A one-floor option would considerably cut down on the number of parking spaces we could provide at this site as well as a garden area. The use of space in a library is very important. And the more levels the building has, the less functional it becomes as a library, based on past studies we have had done by qualified architects.
The size of the Cetron building is estimated to be approximately 34,000 square feet. The current library building is approximately 27,000 square feet. The library is considering a new building of at least 50,000 square feet to provide adequate shelf, study, meeting and work space for the community.
When our contract is signed by both parties, the board will seek clearance from the fire chief to take a tour of the Cetron building and have a structural engineer examine it more closely before any further action would be taken. Once we have purchased the site, we will be in a position to release all information from that report to the public.
We will also be obtaining information on the costs of utilizing the Cetron building in addition to new construction. We did not feel it prudent to spend taxpayer dollars at this time on studies when we were not even sure if we were going to be able to close on the property.
This is setting aside the fact that we did not have access to the site. There are environmental issues to be considered at this site, as well. We will be fully informed about all options before taking the next step.
It is the intention of the Library Board to explore all avenues and insure all precautions have been taken to protect the Library District. Our ability to gain access to the property will go a long ways toward answering many questions about the state of the building and the land.
Matt Teske
Director, Geneva Public Library District
Mike Bruno
2:54 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Thanks Matt. I immensely appreciate your comments and it seems as though we are on the same page...at least on it's face. As I said in my piece, I am assuming that the board and staff have done their due diligence with regard to space and trends at the present site. While I feel that the community is better off with the library at the James and 2nd St. location, if you have to move, you have to move. Moreover, the Cetron location is as good an option as I could imagine.
My primary concern is that, in public meetings, unambiguous statements from the board indicated demolition would soon follow the property purchase to eliminate a safety issue while an actual move would not occur until some undetermined time. My take-away is effectively "Level all the structures and let it sit until the library was ready/can afford to move". Again, there are unambiguous statements with expectation of demolition *having never seen the interior nor having any architect familiar with adaptive re-use conceptualize some plans*.
It would be a travesty, in my humble opinion, that demolition might occur prior to a thorough and authoritative analysis of the property. Your statements here seem to speak to my concerns but, given what I have already heard from the board (the final authority on these matters), I and others look to keep a close eye on just how and who assesses the Cetron building.
Thanks again.
James
7:42 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
The library is fine as is. lets stop looking for ways to pi** away tax dollars on things we don't need. Use private funds to do something with that building. Not my money.
ann holt-harris
7:53 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
It sounds as if the library staff and board have already made up their minds even though they have not thoroughly (or even unthoroughly) explored the options. I'm sure there is a Chinese proverb about closed minds being like closed books. In the end the public will decide whether they want to pay for a new library to accommodate the 9,000 people who live outside the Geneva boundaries.
Patrick Ryan
10:24 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
The library should be at the Mill Race Inn location
Storm Nielsen
9:29 pm on Friday, June 15, 2012
I'll say this once again: having worked at the Cetron building as an employee of Cetron Electronics and then as the person who was in charge of the radioactive material cleanup process of the building and its subsequent decertification through the IDNS, may I suggest that someone on the library board contact me. I am more than willing to share my knowledge of the chemicals used, where they were stored, and where they were buried. Here's a hint, Mercury, Trichloroethylene, Acetone, cyanides, acids, Thorium Oxide.
Matt Teske
1:36 pm on Monday, June 18, 2012
Hello Storm,
Thank you for your offer. I would be interested to hear from you. Please contact me at (630) 232-0780 or mteske@geneva.lib.il.us.