Dayton Metro Library
Public dicussion about design and construction of the Main Library building
5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., Thursday, May 2
Main Library auditorium
215 E. Third St., Dayton
The Dayton Metro Library Board will not consider moving the Main Library downtown to the the historic Arcade complex.
In a three-page letter dated April 29, Dayton Metro’s Executive Director Tim Kambitsch and Margot Merz, the library board president, cited increased maintenance, energy and security costs because of the size of the complex, limited parking, a rent-free lease at its current location and failed past attempts to develop the Arcade among the reasons why the historic complex will not be considered.
“The idea of moving the Main Library to the Arcade has arisen on multiple occasions, but at no time has it met the criteria emerging from best practices research and community consultation,” Merz and Kambitsch stated in the letter. “We cannot afford to risk taxpayers’ money on a project that, at the end of the day, would not be in the best interests of our patrons today or into the future.”
The letter was sent to Arcade co-owner Gunther Berg and Paul Noah, publisher of the Dayton City Paper, who has led a campaign to entice the library board to do a viability study to determine if the Arcade would be a good fit for the Main Library. Berg’s development team agreed to pay for the study.
Noah said his goal isn’t to save the Arcade, but to bring attention to the library board and Kambitsch’s unwillingness to consider the study, which ultimately he says could save taxpayer dollars.
“I’m not only saying they have not done their due diligence, they are being negligent,” Noah said. “My job is to make sure the public is aware of these failures.”
Without the viability study, Noah said library officials cannot know whether a library at the Arcade could meet best practices or that operational costs would increase.
Berg has said he believes the library would be a sustainable use for the Arcade, something other development attempts have lacked.
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