Phoenix main library to get temporary home after floods force closure
Nov 3, 2017, 4:35 AM | Updated: 11:37 am
Park Central, the site of a temporary home for Phoenix's Burton Burr Central Library. (Flickr photo)
(Flickr photo)
PHOENIX — The Phoenix City Council approved a plan to open a temporary library to compensate for a central Phoenix library that will be closed down for nearly a year due to flooding.
The city will soon open a satellite library in the former Park Central Mall near Central Avenue and Catalina Drive in Phoenix, the council announced on Wednesday.
The library will serve as a temporary home for the Burton Barr Central Library, which was destroyed after a pipe burst during a monsoon storm back in July.
The destruction has forced the library to be closed for nearly a year as crews work to repair the building, which is expected to cost about $10 million.
The city said it will sign a one-year lease starting from Dec. 15 through Dec. 14, 2018, but can cancel the lease after nine months with a 60-day notice.
The cost of occupying the space for nine months is expected to cost about $675,000, plus any applicable taxes. If the city needs to rent out the space for the remaining three months, it would cost about $130,000.
The city said insurance funds from the damage at the Burton Barr Central Library will be used to pay for the temporary site.
An investigation found that the flooding occurred after a corroded fire-sprinkler pipe burst during a monsoon storm, pumping between 50 and 60 gallons of water per minute onto the fifth floor of the northwest corner building.
Three employees were terminated, two were demoted and one was given a 40-hour suspension in response to the investigation.
