Llibrary/housing project - Rondo Community Outreach Library

wow. a facility like this would be such an asset to inner-city library systems, like the HPL. very creative and innovative



http://www.stpaul.lib.mn.us/rondo/

October 6, 2004

Innovative Library-Housing Project Breaks Ground



SAINT PAUL, MN - In mid-September, Saint Paul Public Library celebrated groundbreaking for the new Rondo Community Outreach Library / University and Dale Apartments. The project is one of the few combined library-housing projects in the nation. A 32,000 square-foot library will share a building with a 98-unit mixed income housing complex.



The library and developers believe this is one of a few such combined projects in the nation. To the library's knowledge, it is the second in the Midwest, after the Waconia Public Library which opened a combined library, housing and municipal offices complex this summer in Carver County.



At the groundbreaking, Saint Paul Public Library Director Gina La Force lauded the partnership between the Library system and private sector developer, Legacy Management, as a perfect fit. "We hope that people find themselves at home in the library. In this case the library building will actually be home for many people... a place for open homes and open minds."



Archie Givens Jr., President and CEO of Legacy Management told the groundbreaking crowd that the partnership was a natural one from his perspective.



"When we were first approached to talk about a library by the Mayor and his staff and Gina, it was no discussion required. I love libraries and know the power and importance of the word and importance of reading and literacy. It was really a dream opportunity for us at Legacy," Givens said.



Givens is also President of the Givens Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to enriching cultural understanding through programs that advance and celebrate African American literature and writers.



Mark Campbell, a director of Multifamily Housing for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development called the project a national model.



"These days it is almost impossible to construct affordable housing according to the old model, so we all had to adapt and become more creative. This partnership will show others how it can be done - a model to create affordable housing and to create educational opportunities for our citizens."



When it opens in the fall of 2005, Rondo Community Outreach Library will replace the aging and often-crowded Lexington Outreach Branch.



The new library will be named after the Rondo Community, an historically multicultural neighborhood which was decimated by the construction of an interstate highway through its heart. The neighborhood continues to be one of the most diverse areas of Saint Paul, with large African American, African and Hmong populations.



University Avenue and Dale Street, the intersection on which the library will be constructed, once had local notoriety as the base of several adult-oriented businesses which many viewed as a blight on the neighborhood. Both grassroots community members and the Mayor of Saint Paul hailed the library and housing development as a cornerstone for a bright new era at University and Dale.



"This is a project which will stand the test of time," Mayor Randy Kelly said. "We will be bringing our children and grandchildren by here and saying we had a small part in making this a reality."



Quoting from the bible, community activist and Model Cities CEO Beverly Hawkins said, "If the vision tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come. Before this thing is finally done, this whole intersection is going to make you proud."