Imagine that you are looking to buy or build a home. You tell the realtor all of your dreams. You want a circular driveway, a heated pool, a turret, a moat, radiant heating, solar panels, and stone chimneys. Some visitors might have trouble with stairs, so you will want an elevator and at least one entrance with a ramp. This will have to be a secure building or else nobody will want to visit. Parking for visitors is a must. Inside, you will want the latest technology, modern furniture, and lots of light. Your realtor jots this all down, but then asks what you can afford to pay. Furious, you demand to know why she does not believe you deserve a place to live.
That was more or less the gist of the meeting last week about the future of the Hartford Public Library’s Park Branch, except switch those roles. Library patrons were told to dream, but when residents asked about the budget and cost comparison of two recently discussed site possibilities, the CEO misinterpreted these softball questions as attempts to stall the project.
The meeting raised more questions than it answered, starting with what Hartford residents should expect from the head of the public library.
The questions began before Matt Poland, CEO of the Hartford Public Library, finished proverbially clearing his throat with historical information about the library system that residents lost patience with immediately; the public meeting was already starting thirty minutes late and it was held in the crowded Park Branch itself.
As expected, residents were told that the Lyric Theater at 585 Park would be the site — an announcement that is anticlimactic when discussion of moving the library into this venue has been ongoing for so many years. In 2007, reusing the historical structure at the corner of Broad and Park might have been revolutionary. In March 2010, the space most suited for reuse as a library was removed after the City-owned building suffered demolition through neglect. Instead of spending $150,000 to fix a roof, the City of Hartford opted to spend approximately $92,000 on the winning bid for partial demolition needed when the building began spitting bricks and showing signs of imminent internal collapse.
What remains of the building has been gutted and will likely require demolition with only the façade sustainable. In 2012, City Council marked $300,000 for façade improvements to the Lyric. That same year, $800,000 was allocated for renovations to the building. The Spanish American Merchants Association (SAMA) has said that it is willing to commit $300,000 to the façade. Two of the building’s strongest advocates — Luis Cotto and Matt Ritter — are no longer on the City Council; Cotto has moved out of state and Ritter is serving as a State Representative.
Mayor Segarra has gone on record as favoring an Hispanic cultural center on this site. Talk of restoring the Lyric Theater began well before the current administration. In 2007, the Courant reported that a consultant was needed to raise the $10M for restoration of the structure. In 2008, there were discussions with the Frog Hollow NRZ about the possibility of El Centro Cultural at 856 Broad (Lyric site), with Broad-Park Development Corporation applying to be a tentative developer of this parcel.
In 2012, the Courant reported that the Park Branch wanted to expand to 10,000 square feet. On Thursday, Poland told residents that this new location would offer 8,000 square feet, which he said is approximately four times the current size of the Park Branch.
Poland told residents that “nobody has made any decisions here about what it will or will not look like” and that the site and design are to all be agreed on by the community.
But as soon as the questions began, the tone changed. Residents were steered into a predictable false choice: either we get on board with the Lyric and take the money the City has marked for this, or we lose out and will have to continue to wait indefinitely.
So much for that promise of collaboration.
In recent years the Immaculate Conception building had been put forth as a possibility, but residents were told this would not be a good option. It was described, in the past, as being a desirable location by Poland himself. The 560 Park Street location, a former church, is owned by the Immaculate Conception Shelter & Housing Corporation.
When I asked about the cost of acquiring, remodeling, and moving into Immaculate Conception versus demolishing, designing, building, and moving into a space built on what would be the former Lyric Theater site, I was told by the CEO of the library to get that information from the City, that he did not have it. It took three attempts to get an answer regarding the general costs associated with both the former Immaculate Conception and Lyric Theater sites.
According to Matt Poland, the Immaculate Conception site would cost $9-10M.
That number was “news to me” said Louis Gilbert, the executive director at Immaculate Conception Shelter & Housing. Gilbert said that there have been assessments done, but the number discussed was much lower than what Poland named.
Price tag aside, this does not mean that the building is immediately up for grabs. Gilbert said the shelter would need to finish moving out of the space, which would take awhile. That detail was not explained during Poland’s presentation.
A library patron asked if it would be possible to have a referendum to let people decide democratically where the library should go. Poland said he did not know if this would be possible, but stated that this would stretch the process out to three or four years.
Residents were told that the mayor has set aside $2.5M to explore the possibility of the Lyric as a library site and to “begin process of developing design for building.” He said Segarra has set aside money to help move the library into the Lyric space. The Capital Budget shows $1M marked for the Lyric in both fiscal year 2013-2014 and 2014-2015; these funds are marked for hiring an “architect for building analysis and to develop reuse plan for the Lyric Theater building and to construct the proposed improvements.”
Poland said he thinks it will cost $6-7M to build and would take one-and-a-half to two years to begin construction.
The CEO of the Hartford Public Library, who said “I don’t report to the mayor. [The public library is] an independent organization,” said that funding for the relocation would come from both the “municipality and state library.”
[Fact check: The library is a department of the City of Hartford and is in the direct line of the mayor. The Hartford Public Library is largely funded by the City. Mayor Segarra is an ex-officio member of the library’s Board of Directors. According to the library’s 2013 annual report, the vast majority of its funding comes from the City of Hartford. The City of Hartford already owns the Lyric Theater building.]
Currently, the Park Branch is in a rented storefront at the corner of Park and Babcock. The current lease expires in 2016. It’s a hot, cramped space. The children’s area blends into the adult area, allowing for parents to monitor their kids, but giving patrons no place for quiet study. There have been small changes here and there to the space since 1975, but patron demand is undeniable the moment you walk through the doors.
Not a single person has argued that the library should remain in this rental space. Not during the Frog Hollow NRZ meeting last Tuesday and not during the public meeting about the Park Branch last Thursday.
But genuine questions and concerns were either sharply silenced, or in a few cases, brushed aside with a smile.
At a recent Frog Hollow NRZ meeting, a resident raised the issue of the juvenile detention center at 920 Broad Street. He wanted to see it moved out of the neighborhood because of the message it sends to those whose backyards it is in. Following up on this concern, questions about the proximity of the proposed library site to the detention center were raised at Thursday’s library meeting.
Poland suggested that good building design can “hide” the offending structure from young library patrons, but had no concrete answers about how this would work in conjunction with residents’ desires for some gardening space around the building. The south side of the Lyric faces the detention center, barbed wire and all.
The building between the Lyric and Broad Street has been included in the library’s plans to demolish and rebuild, though that is currently housing a restaurant. No word if the owner of 597 Park is aware of the City’s plans.
While Poland encouraged patrons, specifically those with children and families, to say what they wanted about the design, no hard numbers were discussed and residents received nothing in writing from the CEO.
Residents’ wishes were predictable, given that our neighborhood has been asking for a new library for years: space and safety. A space for children. A space for events. A secure building.
But while patrons were dreaming, they were told by Poland that “there is no additional operating money” in the budget.
There were no answers provided as to how this library would function at four times its size with no new staff hired. This was something residents wanted to know when we spoke after Poland left the building following his presentation. What is the purpose of having a huge space if much of it will be essentially unusable without staffing?
Library Spending
The Dwight Branch recently spent $2M on a 1100 sq ft expansion, doubling its size. Of that, $1.5M was funded by the City, $500,000 came from a state library construction grant.
In 2011 the Albany Branch moved into a new 8,000 square foot space that also doubled its size. This cost $5.8M.
The Downtown Library spent $42M on a massive expansion and renovation.
Feedback on Park Branch
Greg Davis, a member of the Hartford Public Library’s Board of Directors, said that they “want this [new library] to be the center piece of Park Street.”
“This is not going to be a cookie-cutter building,” he said.
The Board of Directors has agreed that community input is important to the success of this project.
For those who missed that meeting or did not have the opportunity to be heard, library staff at the Park Branch will be collecting feedback through July 27, 2014. Speak to someone at the front desk about how to relay your questions, concerns, and wishes.