The maximum price for the downtown schoobrary remains what it was in 2005, Mayor Jerry Sanders wrote in a memo to City Council today.
Sanders wrote that the maximum price for the schoobrary was “within the total project estimate of $184,900,000.”
Sanders said he would send a letter today to the state librarian verifying the cost and the approval of a lease agreement with the school district.
The money to build the library breaks down like this: $80 million from the city’s downtown redevelopment agency, Centre City Development Corp.; $20 million from a state library grant, and $20 million from the San Diego Unified School District to lease two of the library’s upper floors for a charter middle or high school. Private donations totaled $27.5 million as of last summer.
Boosters have said they need to raise an additional $36 million to raise all the funds for the project.
Sanders said he expected to bring the construction contract to a council committee in June and full council by early July to meet the Aug. 1 construction deadline.
The mayor didn’t release more information on the cost beyond the figure. Council members and the mayor have been waiting on this cost estimate before they ultimately decided whether to go ahead with the project.
More to come from us on this.
— LIAM DILLON