After 18 months of hard work by city staff and the Preserve and Renew Our Carnegie Library Task Force, it is now time to commit to the renovation of our best architectural icon and fund the library renovation project.
Built in 1911, the Carnegie library is in dire need of renovation and expansion as it has fallen into disrepair and does not meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
The library renovation project started around 2015. An initial effort led to a preliminary architectural design, but City Council at the time did not move the project forward and it lingered untouched for several years.
In 2020, an ADA lawsuit forced the issue. To settle the lawsuit, the Pikes Peak Library District had to temporarily relocate the library to the Manitou Art Center and the city, which owns the building, had to close it.
This raised the concern that our iconic Carnegie building would no longer host Manitou’s library and potentially be turned into office space or worse, a storage facility. In 2020, a citizen task force was formed to help the city restart the renovation project.
Over the past year and a half, the city has gone through a rigorous selection process to hire an architect, contracted with a firm with experience in renovating multiple Carnegie libraries, presented multiple initial design options, reviewed them through a community input process, refined the design based on the input received, presented a conceptual design and further refined it through another community input process, reviewed the design with the Parks and Recreation Board, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Planning Commission and City Council, and further revised the design based on all the combined input.
In total, thousands of volunteer and city staff hours and $150,000 have been invested into getting us where we are today: ready to commit to funding the renovation project.
Of course, like with any big decision, there is no lack of hesitations and second thoughts. Some want to wait a bit longer before deciding. “What is the rush?” they ask.
The rush is that “kicking the can” on a project that has already taken seven years is just mismanagement.
The rush is that when a project has followed a rigorous city-driven process and has momentum, we should capitalize on our efforts and move to the next step. The rush is that waiting for the sake of waiting is just a waste of our time, to say nothing of our money.
Some people are now coming forward with new design ideas and cost guesstimates, and are arguing for last-minute design changes. Although these ideas might be valuable, should they be given priority over the large body of community input received during the formal review process?
What if a few more folks come forward with more ideas? Should we re-start the design process each time? Should we repeat the rigorous architectural analysis and cost calculations across all trades that our hired architectural firm has already done for us?
No design will ever satisfy everybody. But the city used a comprehensive process to combine all our ideas into the best possible outcome. We all had an opportunity to participate.
We should be proud of where we are and how we got here. For the sake of our future, we should support the outcome and move forward.
Some consider the cost of the project too high and wonder where the funds will come from. These would be legitimate concerns, were it not for the fact that Manitou voters have already voiced their opinion on this matter.
Voters approved the Manitou Arts, Culture, and Heritage tax, which started as a means to fund the library renovation and was later expanded to cover other projects. These funds are now being collected and council has approved the MACH Board’s recommendation to allocate a portion to the library.
Combining this yearly allocation with the rent PPLD pays for the Carnegie building will provide the collateral necessary for a loan. Adding a compelling funding commitment by council will show that our city has “skin in the game” and it opens the door to grants and donors.
This is how projects like these are funded. The cost is only too high if we ignore the cost of doing nothing.
Now is the time to rally around the design that was created through broad community input and to reaffirm our commitment to our Carnegie Library.
Please join me in writing to City Council to voice your love and support for your library and ask that they fund the renovation project without further delays. Contact all councilors by emailing citycouncil@manitouspringsco.gov.