County takes input on acquiring Discovery Square

About 40 people showed up at the Columbia Falls City Hall on July 18 to provide input on whether the Flathead County Library System should purchase Glacier Discovery Square.

Present were representatives of the Flathead County Library System, the Flathead County Library Foundation, the Columbia Falls Library Association and First Best Place, the nonprofit that currently owns Discovery Square. Flathead County commissioner Cal Scott and Columbia Falls city manager Susan Nicosia were attended the meeting.

Attendees sat at five round tables to provide answers to three questions: 1) What do you like about proposal? 2) What additional information do you need? and 3) What are your concerns about the proposal? The county library board will look at the input at its next meeting.

County library director Kim Crowley noted that the Columbia Falls branch library has “outgrown” its current space in City Hall.

Circulation has more than doubled from 2003 to 2012, and building traffic has increased by nearly one-third in the last four years. Circulation at the branch library accounts for about 16 percent of the entire county library system’s circulation, and building traffic here accounts for about 21 percent of the county library system’s traffic.

Crowley noted that the branch library currently has about 4,723 square feet, but a space needs assessment projected that the branch library will need about 7,800 square feet in 2025. Plans for remodeling by First Best Place calls for providing 7,500 square feet upstairs for a library.

First Best Place spokesman Barry Conger provided background information on the history and current plans for remodeling Discovery Square. He emphasized that locating the branch library in the building and possibly transferring ownership to the county or city has always been part of the plan.

“A modern-day library serves as the living room for the community,” he said.

Conger explained that the 50-year-old building is “inefficient” and doesn’t pay for itself. He said the building was “shuttered” on June 30 so his group could focus on fundraising and remodeling rather than day-to-day management.

He also noted that Whitefish Credit Union is no longer interested in holding the mortgage on the Discovery Square property, and a “narrow window of opportunity” exists for reducing the mortgage. First Best Place is currently negotiating with the credit union, and no exact figures were forthcoming, but Conger said credit union officials wanted to see a plan by early August.

County library board member Connie Leistiko called that unrealistic. The board won’t have an answer on the acquisition idea of months, she said.

Crowley noted that the county library system would be taking on a risk by purchasing Discovery Square, but if things did’t work out, they could sell the property.

This would be the first piece of real estate owned by the county library system. The downtown Kalispell library is rented from School District 5.

Among the concerns generated by attendees were loss of tax base in a commercial area; mixing public and private entities by using fundraising to pay for remodeling and renting space to pay for operations and maintenance; insufficient parking; and the age of the building.

Pluses included a good location that could also stimulate downtown revitalization; mixing a library with other uses bringing the community together; and the lower cost of remodeling compared to building a new facility.

Left hanging was the question of what will happen to the facility if the county library system doesn’t acquire Discovery Square.