Hospital not interested in library relocation to former Walmart
Jul. 14—After months of discussion and an architect's conceptual drawings of remodeling, Greater Regional Health has notified the Gibson Memorial Library board to no longer consider the former Walmart building as a possible relocation site.
According to an email Wednesday to library board president Ann Coulter, "After preliminary discussions with our Board and Leadership GRH feels it's best to remove the former Walmart building from consideration regarding a possible site to relocate the Gibson Memorial Library. GRH has many opportunities to utilize the space — thank you and best of luck."
The email was signed by Monte E. Neitzel, chief executive office of Greater Regional Health.
For months, the library board has reviewed the former Walmart building as a possible new home. The library has had an ongoing fundraising campaign to expand its facility on 200 W. Howard St. Last fall, Greater Regional Health Foundation purchased the former Walmart building on New York Avenue. There have been no formal, public plans about the building's future from Greater Regional Health. Tractor Supply moved into a portion of the building in 2016.
"Our goal with looking at Walmart was to see if it was more cost effective than to add on to our current building," Coulter said. "The plan for the current building never went away as we figure out how to get the most for our dollar." Coulter said this morning other library board members were informed of the email.
Coulter said, over the winter some people informed the library board the Walmart building may be a good place to relocate. Coulter said library campaign members talked to Netizel about the idea and he was supportive.
"We then took the idea to the library board and city," Coulter said. "The city and library board went to the building and looked."
The library board hired an architectural firm to further review the building to better determine a cost estimate for remodeling a portion of the building for the library. Coulter estimated the library has paid about $8,000 in architect fees.
"We were looking for a cost estimate. If we are not building exterior walls, how much to provide for an up to date library? We created a plan on what a cost estimate would be," Coulter said.
"We will keep exploring to keep the best library service for our community and county," she said.
