New Lombard library construction 'not likely' this year

Lombard library officials say it's unlikely construction will start this year on a $22.3 million building because of an ongoing land dispute with the park district.

And it remains unclear how long it will take the two taxing bodies to reach any sort of agreement.

The library in November successfully asked voters to approve a property tax increase so it could demolish the outdated Helen M. Plum Memorial Library and replace it with a larger and more modern structure at 110 W. Maple St.

But the library still needs the park district, which owns neighboring Lilacia Park, to sign off on the project.

Since the election, negotiations have stalled because the park district refuses to give the library permission to build more than one story on land that used to be part of Lilacia Park.

The delay means library officials probably won't have time to finalize the building design, get permits from the village and seek bids in time for construction to start this year.

"Unless the park district is motivated to work with us to get this accomplished quickly, we don't feel it's going to be happen this year." said Sue Wilsey, the library's communications manager.

The library originally planned to move into a temporary location next month so it could begin demolishing its existing building. Under that timetable, the new building would have been finished by the end of 2018.

"With this delay, it is now unlikely that construction would begin before the spring of 2018, and only if the library and park sign an agreement by the end of summer," library Director Barb Kruser said in a statement.

Kruser said library officials are disappointed for voters who approved a property tax hike to pay for a new library and already are seeing the increase on their property tax bills.

The tax increase is costing homeowners about $72 more per year for every $100,000 of their home's fair market value.

Library officials say a construction delay will result in higher costs for labor and materials. Interest rates on the bonds also may rise.

There's also concern the existing building could have a boiler failure or another major problem that would be expensive to repair.

"Having the library in the building for another winter makes us a little apprehensive," Wilsey said.

Park district officials, meanwhile, say they have no idea when an agreement might be reached.

"They are looking for some accommodations from the park district," said Paul Friedrichs, the district's executive director.

The reason the library needs permission from the park district dates to the 1970s, when it acquired part of Lilacia Park so it could expand its first floor.

As part of that deal, the roof of the library addition was made into a plaza that overlooks the park. While the library owns the plaza deck, the park district owns the air space above it.

"If the park board didn't get those air rights, that plaza level addition never would have been approved," Friedrichs said.

Friedrichs said the park district gave the library land on several occasions with the understanding that nothing would be built beyond a certain height at those locations. He said the park district has air rights to the north, east and west of the library.

Library officials say the latest proposed design for the building respects the park district's air rights. Park district officials disagree.

"They haven't provided us a plan that wasn't into the air rights," Friedrichs said.

He said negotiations "take time."

"Frankly, we wish that it had been done prior to the referendum," Friedrichs said. "But for whatever reason, it wasn't."