It
’s time to take another look at library sites since the City
Council will be doing just that Wednesday night.
It’s time to take another look at library sites since the City Council will be doing just that Wednesday night.
A decision is not expected as Councilman Greg Sellers, who is out of town, has asked for a delay until his return. However, the pros and cons of both Civic Center and downtown sites will be on the table.
The decision will have several parts: what is best for the library, the city, the downtown and, most of all, what is best for the most residents of Morgan Hill and the folks who live in the unincorporated county area the library serves.
Council will have a tough time if it follows its staff report – which is for the downtown site – because the Civic Center site has always had some highly articulate, vocal and well-organized backers and because a survey and Library Commission on a 6-0-1 vote recommended the Civic Center. Others, however, backed downtown.
Civic Center fans favor the site for reasons ranging from public benefit (the safety of slightly less traffic) to the personal. One family told a Times reporter that they want the library kept in their neighborhood – and they don’t care if fewer people can find it there. Council, however, should care.
Quite a few people who do fully understand the benefits of a downtown site are strongly in favor of that. The Morgan Hill Downtown Association enthusiastically backed the updated downtown choice, the one leaving room for retail and restaurants on East Third Street – per the Downtown Plan.
The Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Committee last week voted unanimously to back the downtown site.
And while more than 400 responses to a survey asking “where?” chose the Civic Center, more than 200 chose “downtown,” a plan that has had little time to get the word out on its charms.
The Times has closely watched as arguments for both sites developed, partly because we are library fans and partly because we have a close-up view of how a library and downtown can benefit each other – The Times offices have been downtown for 110 years.
We hope the Council acts bravely, takes a chance and chooses downtown. Council is aware of what many other Bay Area cities have achieved by moving their libraries out front where they can be seen, used, admired. Front and center libraries have worked with other civic entities – community centers, theaters, courthouses, businesses – to build a better environment for all residents and to increase tax revenue which, in turn, benefits everyone.
There is another side to choosing where to put a new library. While we admit we prefer downtown to Civic Center, the Third Street site is not the only possibility. We would encourage Council to consider again the Albertson’s Morgan Hill Plaza, across from the Community and Cultural center.
Its multiple owners who largely seem uninterested in improving the place or in selling to the city could, over time, be persuaded to shift. As we have said before, Morgan Hill Plaza would work well for a library and even for City Hall – some council members have wanted City Hall moved downtown.
The Civic Center complex won’t always be at its present location in the midst of a mostly residential neighborhood. Taking a long-term look, both City Hall and the library belong in the downtown where they can take part in the bustling, energetic scene.
Think about it: Cities, especially small ones, are known by their downtowns. Think Los Gatos, Mountain View, Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, Carmel, to name a few. Every one has thrown everything it has at its downtown and residents (and visitors) benefit.
The synergy (working together so everyone benefits in a greater way) would be especially evident here.
Another choice would be the Britton Middle School site, not perched on the corner of Monterey and Keystone avenues as in a previous library plan, but on the entire property. This could become the Civic Center site of the future.
Britton’s time has past. The district needs to replace the aging, inefficient school with a facility better suited to today’s student needs. A deal with city financing help through the RDA could result in a brand new middle school campus for the district.
Still another site close to downtown is the vacant lot along East Dunne and the railroad tracks. It, too, is across from the Community and Cultural Center.
On Wednesday Council will take the first step in kicking off a new Morgan Hill. And there is more than the library to consider.
The public is invited to speak on any side of the library site issue, three minutes each, at Wednesday’s Council meeting. 7 p.m. City Hall, 17555 Peak Ave. Details: www.morganhill.ca.gov or 779-7271.
