Council Votes Study of Sears Site for New Library

The San Diego City Council Monday authorized a study of the old Sears building on Cleveland Avenue as a possible site for a new central library.

While the council agreed unanimously to study the site and look at ways of financing acquisition of the property, several council members expressed fears about rushing into any decision on a new library location. Sears has given the city until May 10 to issue a “firm commitment” regarding the property, said Jim Spotts, property director for the city.

“I don’t buy a car without shopping around. I don’t buy a house without shopping around. I don’t even buy a can of carrots without shopping around,” said Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer, who supported the study but called on the council to continue to consider other locations.

Councilman Mike Gotch said he favored the move toward acquiring the property because such a purchase would “have a profound (economic) effect on Hillcrest.” But he suggested that the city not only consider the 13-acre site as a home for the new library, but also look at other uses for the site, including senior citizen housing and retail development. Councilman William Jones supported the study but echoed Gotch’s concern, suggesting another study to assess the effects of development--library or otherwise--on the surrounding community.

The city manager’s office will present the Sears study findings at an April 16 meeting of the council’s Public Services and Safety Committee.

Councilman Bill Cleator has spearheaded the push for relocation of the library in the 265,000-square-foot Sears building, which the nationwide retailer recently announced that it will close in the face of declining business.

Members voted to go ahead with the $105,000 first phase of a study they authorized earlier--that one by the Centre City Development Corp., the city’s nonprofit redevelopment agency--to examine the Community Concourse downtown as a possible location for a new library. That study includes a survey of library users, a review of performing arts needs and an assessment of the concourse for city administrative offices. The $125,000 second phase of that study, looking at downtown traffic flow and architectural estimates for the concourse, was suspended Monday until the council can review the first phase findings in May.

The central library’s present location on E Street between 8th and 9th avenues has a meager 140,000 square feet and has long been recognized as unable to meet the city’s growing needs.

Cleator’s office has put the purchase price of the Sears building at roughly $7 million or $8 million, but no figures were provided for the cost of renovation. Cost of a new library at the Community Concourse would be an estimated $40 million to $54 million.