More than 20 months since County Executive Calvin Ball announced plans to build a new $144 million, 100,000 square-foot central public library on the Columbia Lakefront, plans remain in flux. This week, the County Council discussed ways to move forward with a plan that has become complicated since the March 2023 announcement.

Carl DeLorenzo, director of policy and programs for the county executive, said during Tuesday’s County Council meeting that Ball’s administration recommends a market study as a next step in the process to identify potential sources of revenue to pay for the project.

The council did not decide on a market study on Tuesday.

Council Chair Deb Jung said she supports combining a new central library project with a proposed new cultural arts center that “could provide this exceptional experience” and help save the county some money.

“I think that spending all this money on these two separate buildings is probably not the way to go,” Jung said.

DeLorenzo pointed out that neither the county nor the library system owns the lakefront land, and striking a deal could come with more complications. He advised sorting out differences to find a path for the county to move forward with obtaining the site as early as possible so resources aren’t wasted on design.

The county needs to decide how much it’s willing to spend to achieve its vision, and what site it wants for the library, DeLorenzo said.

Original plans had the Howard Hughes Corp., the master developer of Columbia and planner of the lakefront library proposal, donating land for the project on Lake Kittamaqundi. Council member Liz Walsh, who represents District 1, said it wouldn’t make sense to continue with a plan for the lakefront location if Howard Hughes Corp. would be unwilling to give up its land for that use.

“I mean to me, that’s the big one,” Walsh said. “I feel like everything else is probably doable, but I can’t control who owns it.”

Still, while there are issues around parking, development control and who the designer will be, there seems to be unity around the need for a new central library. Tonya Kennon, library system CEO, said the current central branch is “constrained, underscore a gazillion times,” and the branch can’t meet the demands of the growing community with only one community room, no co-working space and no quiet study space.

Council member Christiana Rigby, who represents District 3, said a new library will be “transformative” for Downtown Columbia and the whole county but many council members are “rowing in the same direction,” despite some outstanding questions about the economics of the project.

“I think the longer they stay outstanding, the harder it’s going to be to get this project across the finish line,” Rigby said. “And it’s kind of great to have a council united around the vision and goal of this project.”

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