Politics & Government

City Releases Library Cost Comparison

A City memo breaks down the cost between a "major rehab" of the current library ($10.1 million) versus the City's budget of $9,337,000 for a new building on the proposed library site.

 

The City of Renton is answering the call of recent public comment calling for a cost comparison between the current Liberty Park library site over the Cedar River and the proposed library site on South Third Street just west of the Piazza and Transit Center.

Renton Community Services Administrator Terry Higashiyama issued a 21-page memo on Thursday, April 12 breaking down the estimated costs to build a new library building at either site. The document includes the contractor’s estimates.

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According to the memo, the same contractor —Robinson and Company — provided cost estimates for a “major rehab” of the existing library building, and new, 15,000-square-foot building on the proposed location.

The budget for the proposed site, including purchase of the property, is $9,337,000. The proposed library site was purchased for $525,000 (plus a couple thousand in permitting and other miscellaneous fees), which leaves approximately $8.8 million for design, construction and any other costs associated with moving the collection to the proposed location

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The contractor’s estimated cost for a renovation of the current site, including seismic and structural improvements, rang in at $10.1 million — not including the City’s estimated cost of $400,000 to run a temporary downtown library location during the renovation.

In a memo release March 8, 2011, the City officials stated that “Detailed cost estimates will not be known until the branches are designed, but planning efforts to date estimate that land acquisition, design and construction will cost $9 to $10 million for each building.” http://patch.com/A-fD9j

Both Robinson and Company and representative from the King County Library System will be available to answer questions during the next City Council meeting, scheduled for Monday, April 16 at 7 p.m.

Download a copy of the memo from Council member Randy Corman's blog, or click on the thumbnail image at right to read the PDF. All of Patch’s library coverage can be found on our Topics Page.

 


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