DECEMBER, 2022: New Branch Library Update
Our guest speaker for the 2022 SCFOL General Membership meeting held on November 16, at the San Carlos Branch Library, was Robert Cronk, Deputy Director, SDPL, Public Services. We thank him for stepping in at the last minute for Deputy Director Raul Gudino,to update us on the latest information concerning our long awaited new San Carlos Branch to be located across the present and corner lot of Jackson and Golfcrest. Here is his summary of his very informational talk.
1. Property Mitigation completed on the former Arco station and “No Further Action” has been issued by Regional Water Quality Control Board.
2. Property / Site Control: Department of Real Estate Assets is in the process of preparing to acquire the property. No council action will be needed.
- The duration to complete the transaction is 120 business days.
3. The Environmental Permitting Section within the Engineering & Capital Projects Dept is in the process of obtaining the required CEQA documents for the project. The Notice of Right to Appeal has been posted, and the Notice of Exemption will be issued before the end of the month.
4. The Engineering & Capital Projects Dept is in the process of hiring “Domusstudio Architecture”. They are projected to be hired in early spring of 2023, services include the update of the 2019 bridging documents and are not limited to the following:
- Updates to meet latest building codes, sustainability requirements/climate action policy.
- Updates to library programming to align with community needs in accordance with Library Department Master Plan.
- Library Master Plan went to Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee today as an informational item and will be going to Council in the 2nd week of December
- Updates to project budget and construction cost.
5. After completion of the bridging documents- the next step in the project will be preparing for advertise/bid to hire the Design Builder to complete phase I of the project.
6. Phase 1 includes design completion and permitting – this item is projected to be in FY2025, contingent on funding availability.
Updated Cost Needs:
The previous San Carlos project cost estimate was: $27.0 Million.
The previous funding gap was $20.8 Million.
Engineering & Capitol Project’s new estimated Total Project Cost has increased by $8.3 Million, bringing the Total Project Cost to $35.3 Million. This is a shortfall of roughly $29.1 Million. The previous estimate was outdated and had not been updated since the project was dormant while the site was being remediated. Now that the project is progressing, E&CP will use this as their latest estimate.
Future Funding:
There is currently no funding identified to fill the $29M gap. However, we know that Mayor Gloria and Council Member Campillo fully support the project.
Robert Cronk
Deputy Director of Public Services
City of San Diego
San Diego Public Library
T (619) 236-5845
