After years of looking for an alternative, St. Clair County's main library branch is staying put
One day earlier this year, Port Huron resident Lexi Eveleth arrived with her two daughters to the kids’ sing-along at St. Clair County Library System’s main branch and quickly noticed what looked like a roof leak.
“Rectangles were taken off and the thing was tarped up, and there was a trash can underneath,” she said Wednesday. “That was when I was kind of like disturbed that this would be going on in the area where kids are playing and singing.”
Soon after, Eveleth took to Facebook with her concerns, calling county officials and encouraging others to do the same. That was March 8.
Luckily, a fix for the library Port Huron site, 210 McMorran Blvd., was in the works — as was a decision that would end a years-long discussion about finding a new home for the main branch.
In April, library trustees signed off on a resolution, agreeing the branch would stay put. The next month, the county’s board of commissioners OK’d an engineering agreement not to exceed $22,800 to design and bid out a new roof.
Now, Library Director Allison Arnold said they’re excited to finally be moving forward in addressing central building needs. So far, though, there was no concrete timeline as to when improvements will be made.
“The library board will be in the process over the next, probably remainder of this year, working on a strategic plan, which will very likely have a timeline or a loose set of plans for when and what will be improved,” she said Friday. “As you know, the building is aging, which is why the library board wanted to look for an alternative to move us into our future. But … we are hoping to make improvements so it is usable into our future and meets the needs of library patrons and visitors to our community who are expecting more modern services. We just have to take a look at what those services are going to require.”
Why didn't the other options work?
In 2017, the library system opened up much of the discussion for main branch needs to the public, looking for ideas and forming a committee.
Within two years, the library’s board of trustees was working with architects and evaluating a host of locations. And by early 2020, they were in talks with St. Clair County Community College about looping the main branch in.
Library Board Chairman David Whipple said he thought it would’ve made sense to “have your library at your educational center.”
Arnold said the talks with SC4 “were probably the ones that went the furthest” when they weighed options. However, COVID-19 changed how information such as at libraries could be accessed, she said, pushing people further from physical space and more online and remote.
"Locating the public library at SC4 was not pursued after some discussion with library and county management," SC4 spokesperson Kristin Copenhaver said in an email. "There was no particular reason, it simply did not seem to be a good fit at this time for either organization."
And Whipple said the library board didn’t have the appetite to spend millions on building a new branch entirely, adding, “It really comes down to money. We had some cost estimates, this would be pre-COVID, and they were pretty high. Now, with the cost of construction going way up, it’s just not attainable to build a new main library. At this point, it’s not something the trustees feel comfortable taking to the citizens for a millage.”
Plus, Arnold added finding another place to relocate that could handle the structural weight needs — “because the book stacks are very heavy” — proved difficult.
“The library building here where we are was never off the table, and it was always considered as one of the options when we were looking at other sites,” she said. “So, making the decision to stay here wasn’t made just because there wasn’t anything out there for us, but because it does tick enough boxes that, financially, it makes sense to put our efforts where we are.”
What kind of upgrades are needed?
Outside of the roof, much of the rest of the building, which was built in the 1960s, are out of code and need to be updated.
The elevator is as old as the building is, and Arnold said it’s not publicly accessible — accessible only with an escort to avoid staff-only areas of the building.
Then, she said, there’s the branch’s outdated single-pane windows, its sole family restroom, and other accessibility or mobility issues.
“We want to make changes to the building that will allow for anybody be able to use (it) without requiring special assistance,” Arnold said.
The roof engineering costs are coming from an area of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds — a source of revenue that’s also looped in potential capital needs at large. With the health department building, county commissioners have begun to weigh options, including a host of needs where it’s located on 28th Street or bringing operations into the county administration building downtown where a state agency’s lease is up.
“We’re still really early on in the health department discussion,” County Board Chair Jeff Bohm said. “The library, that train’s gone down the tracks. The health department, that train really hasn’t left the station yet.”
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: After years of looking elsewhere, county's main library branch is staying put
