There was almost no question Monday night that Gilroy’s
temporary library would go downtown – even though the council had
already made provisions for it to be elsewhere.
There was almost no question Monday night that Gilroy’s temporary library would go downtown – even though the council had already made provisions for it to be elsewhere.
With a 7-0 vote, the council agreed to a three-year, $338,000 lease for die-hard downtown developer Gary Walton’s Monterey Street building between Third and Fourth streets. City staff expect doors to open by mid-January, with the current library closing Dec. 1. Between dates, residents will have to visit other county libraries, the nearest of which sits at 660 W. Main Ave. in Morgan Hill. However, Development Center Manager Kristi Abrams said county officials are studying a mobile library option for Gilroy, and residents who check out books before Dec. 1 can keep them until the temporary site opens, she said.
Walton’s 9,388-square foot structure was a grocery store decades ago and can fit two professional basketball courts. The property, with 40-plus parking spaces, now houses Robert “The Ghost” Guererro’s gym and Gilroy’s only auction house, both of which will relocate blocks away beginning Tuesday.
“We’re prepared to start moving the tenants out tomorrow,” Walton told the council before the vote.
After the leaky, 12,500-square-foot library at 7387 Rosanna St. comes down this winter, an environmentally conscious, 53,500-square-foot library will replace it thanks to a $37 million bond passed by voters in November 2008. Relocation costs were included in the referendum, and the project is still within budget, City Engineer Rick Smelser said.
Councilman Perry Woodward called Walton’s temporary site a “near miss” Monday night after the council voted in June – with Council members Woodward and Craig Gartman dissenting – to relocate the library for three years to a 10,000-square foot building near Leavesley Road and Swanston Lane for $405,000. At the time, County Librarian Melinda Cervantes and Councilman Dion Bracco said they spent eight months looking at downtown Gilroy and other surrounding areas but could not find a solid match in the city’s historic core. After that June vote, Walton also called it a “lost opportunity.”
The temporary site has about 40 parking spots and additional street parking, and Walton is rushing to add bathrooms, lighting, painting, new walls, electrical outlets and carpet before patrons come filing in. About 1,200 residents visit the current library each day, according to county records.
