SHELVED

WASILLA — Plans for the city to purchase a downtown shopping center were shelved Monday night, but the delay gives the city council time to process a new cost estimate for turning the building into a public library.

The council was to vote Monday on appropriating the $1.5 million necessary to purchase the Meta Rose Square. With only three members in attendance, and failed attempts to reach a fourth by phone, the council lacked the quorum necessary to act.

Because the next regularly scheduled council meeting is not until Jan. 11, Mayor Verne Rupright called a special meeting to discuss the matter for Dec. 28. Two more council members are expected to attend that meeting.

The purchase agreement between the city and the owners of the shopping center first caused a stir when it was announced after the council’s executive session meeting on Nov. 9.

The deal was for the city to buy the building for $500,000 less than its taxable value on three conditions. Meta-Rose must remain somewhere in the name, the building can only be used for civic purposes and the contract be complete by the end of the year.

The original plan was to turn the building into a new public library. That would have more than doubled the size of the existing library, and the city was budgeting $400,000 for the necessary renovations.

But that plan came as a surprise to the library steering committee.

The steering committee, formed in 2008, was tasked with determining the needs of the community and designing a suitable building. Yet, it was not informed of the deal until committee members heard about it in the news media. What’s more, steering committee chairwoman Jeanne Troshynski said, the Meta Rose Square is drastically smaller than what their needs assessment calls for.

In response, the administration said it was bound by confidentially until the purchase agreement was signed and the city had to act fast if the deal was to go through by Dec. 31. The building may be too small, but it is simply a “stop-gap” to take pressure off the even smaller existing library, city officials said. The steering committee’s work toward an adequate, permanent facility will not stop.

Before Monday’s meeting, council members were handed a copy of a report done by architectural firm Burkhart Croft of Anchorage. The firm, at the request of the city, conducted an analysis of the suitability of the building for a library and the cost of the necessary renovations.

The report determines the Meta Rose has the potential to serve the city as a library, but the cost estimates span a wide gap.

“The central location, building form and vaulted volume of Meta Rose are positive features, well-suited for a library,” the report says.

To bring the building up to code, certain measures must be taken. These changes include improvements to the sprinklers, stairs and handicap-accessible toilets. They also include the addition of an elevator and the much-discussed strengthening of the structure to handle the weight of books.

The total cost of these improvements, with a 15 percent contingency fund, is an estimated $548,901.

The report goes on to list improvements necessary to meet the needs of what the report calls a “modern library.” These improvements include “relocation of partitions, replacement of interior finishes, installation of a new HVAC system, upgrade of electrical system, installation of a new data system, and replacement of lighting fixtures.”

The report estimates the price of doing all that, plus contingency, as more than $2.3 million.

The total cost of the renovations cited in the report plus the purchase price would mean the new library would cost the city an estimated $4.4 million dollars.

However, the report points out the price of $215.29 per square foot is considerably cheaper than building a new building. A new facility would cost about $300 per square foot, not including the cost of land, the report says.

After the meeting, Rupright was optimistic about the results of the report. The city has budgeted $400,000 of its own money for the renovations and can seek grants to cover the additional costs, he said.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.