After close to three years, city officials are deciding what’s next for the old central library.
Since the new library opened in 2013, people have pitched ideas for the future of the old central library. The San Diego Police Department wanted to use it for evidence storage. Others have suggested turning it into a homeless shelter.
The building is officially up for sale or lease, and Civic San Diego, the city-owned agency that regulates development downtown, is looking over proposals from developers.
In its request for those proposals, Civic tried to steer builders toward the idea of turning the library into a hub for tech startups and other small business innovators. But the building itself is in bad shape and needs about $82 million in upgrades and repairs, so the agency will also take what it can get as long as the proposed project meets certain parameters.
In this week’s San Diego explained, NBC 7 San Diego’s Monica Dean and I get into what’s next for the iconic building.