New library for Excelsior may get put on back burner

If Excelsior gets a new library, it may come later and be smaller than the community has been hoping.

The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners on Thursday directed its staff to estimate the cost of a 5,000-square-foot library in Excelsior instead of the $5 million, 7,200-square-foot building recommended recently in a county feasibility study.

When it's clear how much a smaller library would cost, the commissioners will consider whether it should be built instead of the larger building and where it might rank with other capital projects scheduled between 2009 and 2013. Excelsior had hoped construction could begin next year.

Board Chairman Mike Opat, of Robbinsdale, who represents the northern suburbs, said Excelsior's desire for a new library should not jump ahead of others, including Brooklyn Park in his district, which already are waiting in line for funds.

"Excelsior is late to the party,'' he said.

Considered cramped and substandard, Excelsior's current library is 44 years old and occupies 3,700 square feet of a building it shares with the City Hall.

Excelsior started considering a new City Hall in 2004 when a study found it lacked storage and work space and has antiquated City Council chambers. In 2008, the county agreed to explore a joint library-city hall. With the prospect for sharing costs, a proposed library "came a long way very quickly,'' Opat said.

Late last year the city said it could not afford a new city hall. And that changed the discussion, Opat said.

While a joint building had some merit, "The idea of building a 7,200-square-foot library in downtown Excelsior for that kind of money is a problem for me,'' Opat said. "Excelsior's expectations are unrealistic.''

Commissioner Jan Callison of Minnetonka, who represents western suburbs including Excelsior, is pushing for a new library for the one-square-mile city of 2,300.

"As a suburban library, the condition of the building is substandard,'' she said. "The library in this condition no longer serves in the way we want it to serve.''

The building should be built a good size "as opposed to making it cheaper and not having it work as well as it should,'' Callison said.

Lois Langer Thompson, director of the Hennepin County library system, said she will present two estimates: a 5,000-square-foot Excelsior library that offers limited services and a 5,000-square-foot library that splits services with the nearby Minnetonka Library, with each specializing in two of four core services. The core services are the collection of books and other materials the library offers, access to technology, public programs and gathering spaces. If the two libraries split these services, one might offer adult computer programs, for example, and the other specialize in children's books.

Thompson said she will forward that information to the board within a few months.

Excelsior Mayor Nick Ruehl reminded commissioners of the importance the library plays in the quality of life for Excelsior and surrounding south Lake Minnetonka communities. "I am here representing about 15,000 people" in the library's service area, he said. "I want to encourage that we make the library the best it can be.''

Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711