By LEAH WEATHERSBY

The Seattle Public Library Board of Trustees voted to redirect siting of the planned new Greenwood Library to the site of the current library on Aug. 28. The current library is located at 8016 Greenwood Ave N.

In June 2000, the Seattle Public Library decided to site the new library on Greenwood Ave N, just north of N 85th Street where a McDonald's restaurant is currently located. While representatives from the Library had been working with the a neighborhood liaison committee to come up with a design for the building - making the library part of a mixed use building was perhaps the most prominent and controversial suggestion - the Library Board announced they would stop the condemnation process to acquire the McDonald's property in mid-August.

The disappointment in the room from supporters of the McDonald's site was palpable. Both supporters of the new library site and the current library site made comments at the Aug. 28 meeting.

Daniel Norton, a Greenwood resident, told the Library Board: "You're on the verge of making a horrendously bad decision. I think we're very close to meeting the needs of the library and the (liaison) committee at the (McDonald's) site."

However, another neighbor who identified herself as a resident of North 82nd Street said "There are several of us who are very interested in (the library) staying where it is. I'm not interested in walking down the street."

In the end, Linda Larson, a member of the Library Board and chair of the facilities committee, cited financial concerns as well as an imminent public use and necessity hearing (part of the condemnation process) as reasons for her vote.

"(The City Attorney) said the cost of proceeding with the condemnation would significantly start to escalate," said Larson. "I personally found the financial issues very compelling."

After the Library Board's vote to redirect their efforts to the current library site (which was unanimous with one abstention) some Greenwood residents expressed their frustration the decision.

"The board has made it clear that they don't have the horsepower or the willpower to build a library in an urban village," said Michael McGinn, president of the Greenwood Community Council. "I can only speak for myself, but I'm not particularly interested in working with the library after their breach of faith with us."

Asked what he thinks the long term effects of this decision on Greenwood will be, McGinn responded: "It's a pretty serious blow to downtown Greenwood. You don't get public amenities without public investment." (