Source reader and community activist Jason Budsan asks a question residents have been wondering about for some time.
"I understand we are in very bad fiscal crisis," writes Budsan, "but when will the Tutu ‘Gov. Charles W. Turnbull’ regional library be open to the public?"
There’s good news for Budsan—and for the community.
According to library project official Susan Lugo, "It looks promising for the library to be opened by December."
Lugo, who is DPNR’s territorial coordinator for archives, was recently named project liaison for completion and closeout of the regional library.
Lugo said this week that financing has been in place and is not an issue.
The $11.3 million, 57,000-square-foot library center is a public-private partnership between the government and Tutu Park Mall. The Public Finance Authority passed a $9 million bond issuance in June 2006, with Tutu Park Mall contributing an additional $2.3 million.
Kent Bernier, then PFA director of administration, announced at that time that the $9 million had come from a $219 million bond sale, refinancing portions of the territory’s 1999 gross receipts tax bond.
Lugo spoke of the magnitude of the project, for which ground was broken in September 2006. "Work actively began in 2008," she said. "It takes a lot of coordination—the equipment, the logistics, lots of planning."
To illustrate just a couple of the items on her agenda (of which the public likely is not even aware), Lugo noted that the new library will perform “archival functions” and include two labs: one for conservation and another for digitizing a variety of items.
The archives will be stored at the Enid Baa Library on St. Thomas, and at the Florence Williams Library on St. Croix."
The new facility will include a 5,000-square-foot reading room, a Caribbean room, a 2,500-square-foot young adults area, and a public auditorium with seating for about 100.
Lugo said no discussion of the library would be complete without recognizing the efforts of Claudette Lewis, retired DPNR executive assistant commissioner, and Robert Moron, former DPNR chief records manager, who have worked tirelessly for years to bring the project to fruition.
A local company, Balbo Construction, is the contractor.
