Sioux City Journal

Library board considers M'side branch relocation

By Lynn Zerschling Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2008

SIOUX CITY -- The Library Board of Trustees said it needs more information before it could recommend whether the city should build a joint Morningside Branch Library with a new grade school proposed next door.

Board members stressed they had a lot more questions than answers. At issue is the future of the Morningside Branch, 4005 Morningside Ave.

"How does the school board plan to secure the safety of its children?" Cathy Perley, board president, asked.

She noted that public libraries foster an open forum for intellectual freedom, are accessible to all citizens, keep records confidential and allow people to attend public meetings. Elementary schools, on the other hand, are secured buildings that monitor visitors closely.

"I'm seeing some head-on conflicts," she said.

Last week, the City Council received an update on school building plans from Superintendent Larry Williams. He said the district is awaiting a decision from the city on the library issue so the district can proceed with design plans for a new elementary school on the site of the former East Middle School. To obtain the amount of land needed, the district might need to acquire the land where the Morningside Post Office is located, as well as some or all of the library's land.

In light of the council's request for a recommendation, Library Director Betsy Thompson presented three options for consideration:

-- Leave the Morningside branch at its current location and allow the school to be built around it.

-- Identify other sites for a branch library: remodeling an existing "box" type store or constructing a new library.

-- Pursue a collaborative effort with the school district on a joint operation.

Long-range plans call for expanding the size of the Morningside branch library. The current building needs to have its electrical and heating and air conditioning systems upgraded, a new roof and should be expanded.

Regarding remodeling another building, trustee Mike Davidchik said there might be empty buildings near the malls, such as the empty Toys R Us store. Trustee Donald "Skip" Meisner said the board needs to find out the costs of building a new library compared to the cost of remodeling another building.

In considering a joint facility, Thompson said research studies have reported that combining public and school libraries is appropriate for thinly populated areas. However, Morningside is not thinly populated, has a number of loyal patrons and is a growing area of the city.

However, she said, "If we rank by capital costs only, this might be the most cost effective for our taxpayers."

Davidchik and trustee Jay Denne agreed. Denne asked, "Do the nonfinancial issues outweigh the cost benefits?"

Board members indicated they didn't favor the plan to leave the library where it is and allow the school to build around it. They did not reject that option yet.

The board met in the Gleeson Room of the Wilbur Aalfs Library, expecting a large turnout of Morningside residents who have attended a number of public meetings on the school building plan. At those meetings, the majority of patrons opposed moving the library. Only one citizen attended Wednesday's meeting.

Story Comments

Concerned Morningsider wrote on Jun 20, 2008 11:30 AM:

" The basic problem is that the School District can get the private property on which the Post Office is located through eminent domain. Without proper negotiations, they think they can "strong arm" the city into some city property depending on the future of the Morningside Library. So far, they are refusing to reimburse the city for any city property that they take over at Peters Park. They are not offering any compensation if the the library has to be moved. The city has no funds for moving the library at this time. "

Fritz wrote on Jun 19, 2008 11:17 PM:

" So you take the Library and the Morningside parking lot and turn it into a school. so are you taking the Post Office also? You are taking three of Morningside Prime locations. A lot of business and relaxation is done at these three location. so if you move the Library and the Post Office out, where do the people that walk to do their business or go to the library or post office? Have them walk down to the Mall area? The school need to either build a multi-story school on the site they have or move the grade school down by the High School or another location that has the area that they want. This is a very busy intersection of town. for those that had children in Junior High, you know how hard it was to pick up your children. why not go to Nodland school and add on to it? You have the land there to do it and you already have the high school parking lot there that you can use. Look at other options before tearing down perfectly useful buildings. "

Steve wrote on Jun 19, 2008 2:18 PM:

" Its just like when the board decided to tear down the building that was there. Granted they didn't need another junior high, but they could have torn away the addition for parking and kept the original building as the new board headquarters. That would have cheaply provided them with a replacement to the current board building (which by their own admission is falling apart) and given them a large enough auditorium to handle even controversial board meetings. "

Steve wrote on Jun 19, 2008 12:59 PM:

" The reason the School Board doesn't want to build without expanding the site beyond all reason is their desire to only have very large one story elementary school buildings. This requires an incredible amount of land not only for the large footprint of the building, but also for the playgrounds, etc. needed for the young children. I have said it before, and I'll say it again... if they would build a multi-story building it would fit on the same piece of land and would be much cheaper (due to the lower land costs, dirt work costs, construction cost, etc.). It is always cheaper to build the same square footage on multiple stories than it does to build that size all on one level. While having it on one story does help with ADA, another solution would be to install an elevator in the new multi-story structure. This meets the students needs, preserves the library and post office for citizens, and reduces the construction costs. Why they refuse to look at this is beyond me. "

didnt attend wrote on Jun 19, 2008 12:48 PM:

" regarding the last comment by the Journal writer... only one person showed up at the meeting because no one else knew about the meeting or the agenda. The Journal does a relatively good job of covering events, but not in publicizing them beforehand. "