Council Shells Out Another $18 Million for Central Library

Despite a charge that the city’s new Central Library is becoming a “Taj Mahal” with a runaway price tag, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to kick in another $18 million to pay for cost overruns on the project.

The total cost to renovate and expand the vacant, fire-ravaged building now is estimated at $211.4 million, more than double the estimate for the project when it was first approved in 1983.

“Just delaying and waiting has cost $100 million,” Council President John Ferraro said Tuesday. “This library will cost a lot more tomorrow if we delay it any longer.”

In addition to the $18-million overrun to be funded by the council, another $13 million in overruns will be paid by the Community Redevelopment Agency and other sources.

The additional money is necessary to repair damage from the 1987 Whittier earthquake and two arson fires, clean up asbestos contamination and control a newly discovered methane gas problem, according to city analysts. Inflation and delays also have added to the cost.

But Councilwoman Gloria Molina complained that the city is “building a Taj Mahal” at a time when “we can’t get the essential services for this city.”

Molina said the library designers expected to get the money from the council because “they figure you’re all a bunch of wimps anyway.”

Other council members expressed concern over the escalating cost, but in the end voted 12 to 2 to pay for the overrun. Molina and Councilman Ernani Bernardi voted against it; Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores was absent.

The library at 5th and Flower streets has been empty since it was ravaged by fire four years ago. The main building is to be restored, an annex constructed and five fountains installed on the west lawn.

“At last the developers are building some beautiful buildings downtown with some style to them,” Ferraro argued to the council. “Square boxes are no longer in. They’re ugly. We don’t like them. Now they’re spending a little extra money.”

“This is once in a lifetime,” said Councilman Joel Wachs. “You don’t get a Central Library that often . . . . You just don’t nickel and dime it at this point.”