JOPLIN, Mo. —
Resolutions advancing a new $38 million public library and theater complex as the city’s first tornado redevelopment project will be considered tonight by the Joplin City Council.
One of the resolutions on the agenda would approve a memorandum of understanding between the city and the board of trustees of the Joplin Public Library outlining terms for the project.
The agreement states that the library will be provided a 55,000-square-foot building at the northeast corner of 20th Street and Connecticut Avenue. It is to be fitted with state-of-the-art equipment, be compliant with requirements for access by the disabled and have parking.
The library will hold a 99-year lease on the building with an option to purchase it after 20 years. The library will pay its own utility costs, provide maintenance and insurance for the building, and pay $1 a year for the lease.
In exchange, the library board will give the city the title to the property at its current location at Fourth and Main streets.
A resolution of support for a $20 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration that would pay most of the cost of the new library also will be considered. That resolution sets out the funding for the project. The library will cost about $25 million, and the city’s share of that will be about $4.5 million plus the land value of about $500,000. The city’s share of the building cost will come from bonds that will be issued in connection with the newly created tax increment financing district in which the library will be located.
The federal grant would be used on that portion of the project.
A movie theater is to be built as a second floor of the library with $13 million in revenue bonds from the TIF district. The theater will be owned by the city, and the lease payments from it are projected to finance bond debt, according to the plan developed by the city’s contracted master developer, Wallace Bajjali Development Partners, of Sugar Land, Texas.
Neither the library’s board president nor librarian Jacque Gage could be reached Friday for comment on the agreement. The library board last month passed a resolution supporting the plan and agreeing to issue a letter of support to the Economic Development Administration for the project.
The EDA provides money to stimulate economic development in distressed cities.
Council member Mike Woolston, who was mayor at the time the proposal was first developed, said Friday that he had not read the agreements entirely, but he added, “I would not have a lot of concern” about the terms of the deal or the financing. “It’s about what I would have expected. I know from previous discussions that revenue bonds would finance part of the project and that bonds would be issued on the TIF district.”
Mayor Pro Tem Bill Scearce said he did not have concerns about the agreements.
“I think the money that is going to be used for the project comes from the EDA grant and the rest of the money from the TIF,” he said. “I really don’t have a problem with TIF money being spent in the tornado zone.
“Twentieth and Connecticut is right at the heart of ground zero” in the tornado zone. “My concern is and has been taking money that has been given to us because we had a tornado and it being spent in areas that are not in the tornado zone.”
In a related matter, the council will be asked to approve the addition of an accounting position in the city’s finance department to handle TIF district accounting. That position is expected to cost $43,000, but there are provisions for the city to receive an allocation for TIF costs from the TIF district’s revenues.
Time and place
The Joplin City Council meets at 6 p.m. today on the fifth floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main St.
Top Stories
Joplin City Council to consider advancing new library project
- Top Stories
-
-
Memorial Day travelers bemoan high gas prices
Norm Hayward and his wife, Claudia, have a couple of things going for them as they continue their increasingly expensive motor home trip around parts of the United States. For starters, the Phoenix, Ariz., couple are saving on hotel costs.
-
Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
It was a long drive in the middle of a severe thunderstorm that had earlier produced a massive tornado in Moore, Okla. With the two-year anniversary of Joplin’s deadly twister approaching on Wednesday, a team of 14 Joplin emergency workers was ready to risk the trip in order to get help to a hurting Moore.
-
Cunningham Park vandalism estimated at $4,000
Vandals caused an estimated $4,000 worth of damage in Cunningham Park, draining the pool in the aquatic center of about 200,000 gallons of water and throwing some large landscaping rocks into the reflecting pond.
-
Joplin Board of Education to decide fate of East Middle School teacher
After hearing nearly 10 hours of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses and accepting more than 45 exhibits into evidence, members of the Joplin Board of Education voted to move behind closed doors Thursday night to decide whether Randy Turner, a communication arts teacher at East Middle School, will continue to teach.
-
Content of book, students' access to it at issue in hearing for suspended teacher
A standing-room only crowd is present at the hearing this morning to decide the fate of suspended Joplin Middle School teacher Randy Turner, who has asked for the hearing before the board of education.
-
Southeast Kansas foundation accepts donations for Moore
The Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas is accepting donations to assist the victims of the Moore, Okla., tornado.
-
Demonstrators show support for suspended teacher
Most were carrying blue-and-white signs that said “Support Turner,” a reference to Randy Turner, a middle school teacher who was removed from his classroom and placed on administrative leave last month after an investigation by school district officials.
-
Awards mark Joplin observance of tornado anniversary
Joplin will serve as the beacon for resilient recovery from a disaster to communities across the United States, including recently hit Moore, Okla., said the nation’s secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
-
Federal, state leaders salute Joplin’s recovery
A deadly May twister may have punched a hole in Joplin and Duquesne two years ago, but the resolve to repair it will help other communities stand strong when they face similar disasters. That was the message of state and national diginitaries to a crowd of about 2,500 who observed the second anniversary of Joplin’s devastating May 22, 2011, storm during a ceremony Wednesday in Cunningham Park.
-
Banner from Joplin to be sent to Moore residents
A giant vinyl banner adorned with heartfelt messages from Joplin tornado survivors to the residents of Moore, Okla., became a centerpiece of Wednesday’s observance of the two-year anniversary of the May 22, 2011, tornado.
- More Top Stories Headlines
-
Officials: Truck Hit Bridge Before Collapse
Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned
Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits
Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty
Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists
Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers
Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died
Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police
Boy Scouts Mom Supports Gay Inclusiveness
"Be Ready": NOAA Warns of Busy Hurricane Season
SeaWorld: Penguins Are Coolest Thing in Florida
Obama Renews Call to Close Gitmo
Obama Offers Drone Strike Defense
Raw: Heckler Interrupts Obama on Guantanamo
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
