City to put old downtown library on auction block

(May 12, 2005) – Ever wanted your own library? Now’s your chance!

The old downtown library building at 131 Dean A. McGee Avenue will be auctioned off at 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 31 in the City Clerk’s office at City Hall.

The 64,530 square foot building has been vacant since late last summer when its books and other inventory were moved to the new Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library at 300 Park Avenue.

The old library was built in 1953 on four lots the City has owned since 1899. It replaced the Carnegie Library which had stood on the same site since 1901.

The lots and building will be sold as surplus property with a minimum opening bid of $950,000. Each bidder will be required to put up $10,000 dollars earnest money.

“This is a straight sale to the highest bidder,“ Finance Director Cathy O’Connor said. “The new owner will have to comply with zoning and building codes, of course, but we won’t have any special requirements about design or use plans. This property can be converted to offices, condos, retail or whatever the developer envisions.”
 City to put old downtown library on auction block

Bidders must appear in person in the City Clerk’s office on the second floor of City Hall at 200 N. Walker with their $10,000 earnest payments in hand.

This will be an open voice bid auction. The purchaser must close the sale and pay the full price, less the earnest payment, within 15 days of being notified of winning the auction. The City reserves the right to refuse any and all bids.

The new Norick Library which replaces the vacant library was the last of the MAPS projects funded with a temporary dedicated sales tax approved by voters on December 14, 1993. The Norick library was dedicated on August 17, 2004.

The four-story, 112,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility was built by the City for the Metropolitan Library System.