St. Louis County Seeks Tax Hike for Library Makeover Plan

From The St. Louis Post Dispatch:

To the thousands of people who use the St. Louis County Library’s headquarters branch in Ladue, or who travel past it every day on busy Lindbergh Boulevard, the red-brick structure may not look like it should be torn down.
But demolishing and replacing the building would be part of $108 million construction and renovation plan that would touch all 20 of the library district’s facilities, making it the biggest project in the district’s 66-year history, if voters approve a tax increase in November’s election.
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Library director Charles Pace acknowledged in an interview that the handsome appearance of the headquarters building, which was renovated and expanded in 1989 at a cost of $7.8 million, will make a tax increase to replace it a tough sell.
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In addition to replacing the headquarters, the library would replace five other branches — Tesson Ferry, Lewis and Clark, Thornhill, Meramec Valley and Mid-County — and lease and retrofit a yet-to-be chosen building to serve as a new operations center for library and maintenance staff.

Read the Complete Article (Including Comments from Library Users)
See Also: St. Louis County Library Tax Levy Information (Ballot Issue)

Filed under: Interviews, Libraries, Patrons and Users, Profiles