Columbia Falls library relocation gathers steam

Plans to relocate the Columbia Falls Branch Library to Glacier Discovery Square in downtown Columbia Falls continue to move forward even though the Flathead County commissioners haven’t endorsed the project.

A group of Columbia Falls library supporters and county Library Board members met with the commissioners on Monday to present a project update and get some sign of support from the county.

Last year the commissioners scrapped a $1.9 million earmark for a new library in Columbia Falls that would have set aside the money for the 2017 fiscal year. The Library Board and Library Director Kim Crowley nevertheless continued working on a plan to relocate the branch library from its crowded quarters at Columbia Falls City Hall to Discovery Square, a former bank-turned-community center that would roughly double the library space.

“We’re not here to ask you for money, but for your support,” Library Board Chairwoman Connie Leistiko said.

The Library Board methodically has worked through a review of the Discovery Square facility, with professional inspections by an engineer, a contractor and an architect.

“We did our due diligence,” Leistiko stressed.

During that time ownership of the Discovery Square building has changed.

The First Best Place nonprofit group that acquired the building in 2008 for $465,000 dissolved late last year and in October 2012 the group handed over the deed to the building to Whitefish Credit Union to avoid foreclosure.

Leistiko said the credit union, realizing the importance of the building as a community facility, is willing to sell Discovery Square to the Library Board for around $340,000, even though the building was put on the market for $495,000 in March.

“We have nothing in writing, but have every reason to believe they’re good for their word,” Leistiko said.

Whitefish Credit Union is giving the Library Board four months to make a decision on the building purchase.

The board’s plan is to use $100,000 that was set aside for the Columbia Falls expansion several years ago, along with $200,000 from the Flathead County Library Foundation, to buy the building.

“We’re very close to having a cash offer for Whitefish Credit Union,” Leistiko said.

Another $1.4 million would be raised through a private capital campaign for the needed building improvements, such as work on the roof and windows. Library supporters at one time had pledges of about $400,000 in startup money from the Columbia Falls community. That was pledged by citizens and businesses who supported the restoration of Discovery Square.

The need for a bigger library in Columbia Falls is clear, Crowley said.

During fiscal year 2012 the branch library checked out 87,637 items, a 54.7 percent increase over the past five years. Crowley noted that the Whitefish Community Library, which is twice as big as the Columbia Falls library and holds nearly twice as many items, checked out 10 percent fewer items than the Columbia Falls branch during the current fiscal year to date.

“We’re busy and we’re cramped and there is no place for programs,” Crowley said about the Columbia Falls library.

State law gives library boards the autonomy to own property, so the Columbia Falls project can proceed without the commissioners’ approval. However, Crowley said, having the county’s support would be beneficial as the group goes about raising private money.

Commissioner Cal Scott said it’s obvious there’s a need for a bigger library in Columbia Falls, and he complimented the group’s vision and dedication to the project.

“Economically from the county’s standpoint, a $100,000 investment is more than reasonable,” Scott said. “Any further money involved and I’d be very skittish.”

Scott said he’d personally do whatever he could to assist the group.

Commissioner Pam Holmquist said it’s her understanding the $100,000 set-aside is to be used for upgrades to the current branch library. Leistiko said the money is earmarked for facility expansion.

Holmquist said she’s hesitant about relocating to a building as old as Discovery Square, which was built in 1965 as Bank of Columbia Falls.

Leistiko said those professionals who inspected the building said they believe it has at least a 50-year remaining lifespan. She also pointed out the main courthouse that was renovated is much older than the Discovery Square building.

Holmquist said she believes in the county library system, “but I don’t think I’ve changed my mind on the Discovery center. I would not support buying at this time.”

Commissioner Gary Krueger said he had no comment.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.