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| Builders Hamish Tyson and Dale Soper board up ground-floor windows in the former chief post office, in Princes St. Photos by Craig Baxter. |
Dunedin City Council staff and consultants have done "most of
the homework" required to convert three floors of the former
chief post office, in Princes St, into a new library.
Project management company Octa Associates was employed
midway through the year to develop the proposal in the
building owned by South Canterbury Finance.
Council property manager Robert Clark said yesterday the cost
of developing the new library would be "in the vicinity" of
the $26 million to $28 million already identified in the
council's community plan for redevelopment of the existing
Moray Pl library.
Mr Clark said "most of the homework" had been done on the
post office site, including studies on the provision of
parking, alteration to bus routes and accessibility for
schools.
Drawings of the layout for the library proposal show a "grand
foyer", cafe and various special-interest areas.
The basement would be used for "the stack" where books were
stored.
The ground floor and first floor would be extended across
Bond St to a new three-level building on the car park between
Bond and Cumberland Sts, providing a total of 6000sq m.
Mr Clark said the existing library covered 7000sq m spread
over eight floors.
The post office was built in 1927 and closed in 1994.
Its once grand interior has since been gutted by owners and
intruders, with kauri tongue and groove flooring ripped up
and sold.
Mr Clark said if the proposal went ahead, the space would
need to be gutted, but any historic features that remained
would be retained where possible.
The five floors above the proposed library space had also
been stripped back to bare concrete since the building was
vacated by the post office.
Mr Clark said he had had "reasonably serious" interest in the
use of two floors by "another operator", whom he would not
name.
Development would be done only if there was a commitment from
a tenant.
Commercial buildings with floors of 1400sq m were quite
unusual, even in Queen St, Auckland, he said.
There was also the possibility of adding another floor to the
top of the building.
All the ground-floor windows were being boarded up yesterday
in a bid to end 10 years of vandalism.
The work was being done in response to an incident reported
last week, when glass from a damaged window landed close to
two young women pedestrians.
Octa director David Booth, who is preparing the library
project report to the council, said that although the
building sat on wooden piles, driven into the original
foreshore of Otago Harbour, it was solid and dry.
"It's a well-constructed, reinforced concrete building."
The piles had been investigated during earlier proposals for
the building and the condition at the time was
"satisfactory".
About all that is left of the interior is the reinforced
concrete of the structure itself, bronze window frames and
fittings around the building's six lifts and three porcelain
urinals.
For the building to be used again, it would need new
plumbing, wiring, heating, sprinklers and lifts.
Big doors at the rear of the building would improve access
for the library book bus and the old letterboxes in Princes
St could be used for book returns.
• Mr Clark said two hotel chains had shown "some initial
interest" in using the existing Moray Pl library as a hotel.
Mr Clark said the council had looked at the idea "in a little
bit of detail".
"We are looking at a hotel with between 85 and 100 rooms."
It could also be developed as office space.
One of the failed proposals for the post office included at
least 125 hotel rooms.
Part of the building has also been proposed as a new
headquarters for the Otago Regional Council.
mark.price@odt.co.nz
We all miss the point?
"Libraries are not about books." Well, that's fine; let's just forget the books and have two wide open floors of wide open space down at the old Post Office, and everyone will be happy.
Libraries are not about books, indeed.
You all miss the point
Libraries are not about books. They are about the space...the community space. Libraries rejuvenate areas. Build it, and the area will spring to life. I have done research on this and can provide facts rather than the tired old statements made (which we have heard before with the stadium) by people who make assumptions. Have you ever tried to get a park on a weekday in the car park opposite the library? Tried to park in the basement. Have you tried to pick up or drop off a bag of books from the housebound area?
Have you ever tried to find a study space in the library? Have you ever sat in the building on a hot summers day? Have you ever worked in the building? Have you ever tried to find somewhere to plug in a laptop? Have you been to the tiny children's area - 25% of DPL issues are from the children's area, and they have the smallest area of the building. The new library will be purpose designed by expects in consultation with library staff. Go somewhere like Auckland, Christchurch, Brisbane, Sydney or Adelaide and see what a public library should be. They are vibrant community spaces that rejuvenate and engage the community. Not some tired old building designed simply as a storehouse of books.
Space?
But the proposed new library will have 1000sq m less than the current one. I agree they may well be able to use the space better than the current library but for $28m - a lot of money - I'm sure we could just make the current library bigger by 50%. That would address both the issues about whether the new space is in a good location and the problems you have with the current one.
The official DCC Facebook page
I'm a member of both the aforementioned DCC facebook groups. 'The DCC has lost the plot' page while great, is unofficial. However the DCC have recently launched (what I believe to be) an official page called 'The Dunedin City Forum'.
Facebook page
The page is called: Dunedin City Forum. It is a groups page so a simple search under that name should work.
Fiscal madness
Are there some lead waterpipes in the Town Hall? Something is causing the rush of harebrained ideas out of there. Squandering $28m like this when the city is already extremely over-committed is the height of irresponsibility. On the bright side, this craziness can only confirm to the likes of the new stadium director that he has made a serious mistake coming to Dunedin if this is how the council manage the city. According to the DCC's own figures, rates are set to double in 8 years. With this flagrant behaviour, expect that much sooner. Considering that my ORC rates were already 37% higher than the previous year, the sky's the limit or, more likely - bankruptcy.
DCC on Facebook
I'd comment on the Facebook page if I could find it.
Facebook
It is not hard to find by entering "The DCC has lost the plot" in the search box.
More grandeur
The DCC have to be kidding if they think the Dunedin public can afford let alone tolerate this kind of grandeur. Can I urge people to comment on the DCC's own facebook group regarding this. They set it up recently so they could seek the voice of the public on such issues and so far I'm the only person who has posted on it.
Great idea
The point of moving the library is that the current site is unsuitable. It was designed last century by people who could not foresee future developments and knew nothing about designing a library. The library is spread over several floors which is a nightmare for staff and keeping secure. The current library also has limited parking areas, and is hopeless for getting in and out of if you are disabled. The new library will have a bus stop at the door. The reason for extending through the back of the post office would be to create enough space on each floor, rather than like the current library where collections are spread throughout the building. Smaller also doesn't mean we are losing anything. A large portion of the current building is wasted space. New technologies such as stack shelving on wheels will mean that the items that are not being used can be stored more efficiently. If you've ever seen the book bus trying to get in and out of it's current location you'd wonder how they do it. This is a chance for Dunedin to bring its library into the new century. Modern libraries are vibrant spaces, and are no longer just about books. They are about a community space where people can come to browse the internet, meet with friends, access government services, learn new skills, and more. Libraries rejuvenate communities. The exchange area is long overdue for something like this. We can return this area to its former glory. The library staff should be commended for what they are trying to achieve. Once again we see the tired old attitude from a sector of Dunedin that wants to hold the city back from progress. Lets have the Dunedin we all deserve.
$26 million cost just to read the same books
$26 million extra on rates (divided by 43,000 households = $600 per house) to read the very same books is a "good idea"? Yeah right.
The Dunedin we deserve?
With all these facts at your finger-tips, Max, can you please tell me how many more parking spaces there will be at these wonderful new premises than at the present location? And how much less 'hopeless' will the wheelchair access be? Can the disabled park near to their access? Also, would I be mistaken in thinking that the DCC are keen to take over the 'old' library area?
For what it's worth, I think the existing library setup is superior to what is planned. I'm looking forward to the inevitable public consultation process.
Library
I've previously worked in the library for a number of years, so feel I am well qualified to comment. I also have a degree in Library and Information Management.
The existing library is terrible. It leaks, has no parking, has run out of space and is incredibly difficult to work with. It is impossible to keep it at the right humidity, as it has no air conditioning. It is spread over multiple floors, and is hard to secure. We are talking about having a public library purpose designed by experts.
The previous library, I believe, was designed by city architects in the 60s who had no idea about designing a library. They certainly had no idea about how a library in 2009 should function. Libraries are no longer simply store houses for books, but facilitate access to information. And that information now comes in a range of forms, including print, electronic and other form of media such as television.
Libraries provide technologies and resources to enable access to information for those who can least afford it. People have a right to access information - by not proving areas such as learning facilities and community meeting spaces the library would be breaching its duties as a lifelong learning enabler.
Libraries are now also a social space. They are the heart of a community, where people can get together. Where else can they go for entertainment, recreation, and information without t costing a cent? Yes council needs more room.
Would you rather they spent $28 million on a building for themselves and we keep the existing library? I suggest everyone go and have an objective look at the Moray Place library. Library staff have done amazing things to make the public areas look as good as they do, but there is only so much they can do. The building is past its use by date as a library.
Library
It will not be a purpose built library - it is a refurbishment of the old post office at the wrong end of town. It has steps for the main entrance - books will still be on more than one floor, - its new location would be away from half the Dunedin bus routes (virtually every Dunedin bus route finishes in the Octagon) - it's away from the shops - it's away from the cafes and bars - it's away from where people are - it's nearly twice as far from the university. And it will cost $26m ($600 per house) to have exactly the same books in a place where they are far more difficult to access for students, bus users, shoppers etc.
The heart of the community
Surely the "heart of the community" should be, well, at the heart of the community, rather in a cold, depressed part of town to which few people go? Perhaps a better plan would be to kick out the rest of the city bureaucrats into some generic office space, there's a bunch vacant right now, and expand into the current DCC space rebuilding it to make a good library - that would leave the library in the heart of the community. By the way there's parking across the road from the current library, 2-3 blocks away on Gt King St, and 2 sets of parking buildings 2 blocks away on Moray place (on the other hand the current library's parking space is to put it bluntly bizarre) - it's not hard to find a spot within and easy walk.
New library idea
The story is ambiguous. It says the ground and first floors would be extended across to the new building, creating 6000 sq metres, but does that include the new building or not? Is the 6000 sq metres just the ground and first floors? If so, then the new library would be significantly larger than the current one. Another way to read this is that the 6000 sq metres includes the ground floor, first floor, plus the extensions, but does not include the basement. If the basement size was added to the 6000 sq metres, the new library would probably be the same size as the current one. Another factor is the carpark in the current building. Presuming it is part of the 7000 sq metres quoted for that building, and presuming the new building does not have a car park built into it (the story does not explicitly say so) then the new building would have a fair bit of space for library alone, less car park. The story is quite ambiguous, which leads to confusion. But a new library sounds great. Just hope that the parking is good, because I really enjoy the parking that comes with the current library.
Less space and more building?
The library is not only going to get smaller by a 1000 sq metres, but there's going to be a whole new building added at the back of the Post Office when there are already empty floors in the building. Why not use these?
The whole thing is barmy, particularly when there are no real plans for the existing library, which sits right in the heart of town, is very accessible and was purpose-built. Is the City Council having a year of total madness?
Library usage
It's been a very, very long while since I've been in the old CPO but from memory the main downstairs was a very large grand space 2-3 storeys high (perfect for a grand hotel). That means that although they have a lot of volume they probably don't have a lot of floor space. It will be expensive to heat.
I think there are plans for the existing library - it was mentioned a while ago that the DCC administration is planning on expanding into it. Friends tell me this is the main reason for the library having to move - not so much a matter of them jumping but being pushed.
We haven't heard any of the library staff talking about how they feel the new space would work as a library - either for or against. They are after all the experts on libraries and I'm sure the public would welcome their knowledge before public hearings are held on the project.
Personally I think it's a mistake to move the library away from the confluence of the city's public transit - kids from the hill suburbs or down the harbour will no longer be able to take a bus after school to the library.
You've got to be kidding
First they go and start a stadium that so many people don't need nor want, and now the council are looking at moving the library from its excellent current location to an area that should be deemed "no-mans-land".
I find it totally incomprehensible that these people who call themselves councillors, continually make these decisions against the will of the majority of voters,and defend it as some form of 'progress'. Let us not forget that it was the "so called experts" that put the world in economic recession and this council is doing exactly the same thing.
Great idea but...
I'm really excited by this proposal but agree with MikeStk's concern - should we really be shrinking in the library? Ideally we should be having more items on public display, more reading spaces, and more room for users with accessibility issues.
I wonder if it would be it feasible for the library to occupy more than three floors in the existing post office building, mitigating the need for a new extension above Bond St?
I realise that the Bond St facade is not as grand as that on Princes, but it still contributes positively to the overall aesthetic of the area. Perhaps a detached multi-level car park, or one that is connected via a small pedestrian bridge, would be more pleasing.
Just a minute ....
We're going to spend $28m to make the library smaller?
Plan for library
Proposing to spend $28 million to replace our perfectly good purpose built library with a smaller one comprising two buildings (The Frankenstein Library) indicates that the DCC either has a pathalogical obsession to waste more ratepayer money or, that they are so deluded that they don't realise the foolishness of their recent decisions. Councillors need to realise that they have already spent a stupid amount of money on projects with no net benefit to the City, and any more such low-quality spending could be considered economic vandalism.
If Councillors don't care about the well-being of ratepayers and renters, perhaps they might consider what the effect of their prolific spending will have on future Councils: spending all the money today will deprive future Councils of funding for their own screw-ball projects. Of course we don't want any screw-ball projects, now or in the future. Lets hope that we find a way to prevent future Councils from repeating the horrific spending of our current Council.