Politics

Library Dream Moves Forward

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published October 27, 2009 at 1:59 PM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

San Diego City Council has voted to find out what it would actually cost to build a new main library by putting it out to bid.

A site for the new main library was set aside almost a decade ago, but the city hasn’t collected enough money to build it. The last estimate, done four years ago, was $185 million.

San Diego is under pressure to take the next step – the State of California threatened to withdraw its $20 million grant unless the council moved ahead to put the project out to bid.

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Councilmembers Carl DeMaio and Sherri Lightner opposed the move, saying the project will only add to the city’s deficit. DeMaio suggested more than $60 million earmarked for the library by the city’s development arm would be put to better use paying off the outstanding debt on the ballpark and the convention center

But supporters, like John Macalister, president of the Friends of San Diego’s Public Library, urged the council to act.

“The empty lot is waiting for the new library,” Macalister said. “Money is available, construction is looking for work. I think it’s time to go out for a bid and let’s see what we can really do.”

A majority of the council voted to find out what construction would really cost by asking for bids. They also asked for efforts to make sure small businesses in San Diego have a chance to bid for the construction work.

Once bids are in early next year, council will still have to decide whether to go ahead.

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The dream of a new main library for San Diego has been talked about for more than 30 years.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.