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Bank pulls out of library project

US Bank has decided to withdraw from a mixed-use project which was to house a bank branch as well as the new Ballard Library and Ballard Neighborhood Service Center. Library officials say the project will go forward even though US Bank won't be part of it.

The mixed-use project will be built at 22nd Avenue NW and NW 57th Street - the current location of US Bank's Ballard branch.

Brian Read, US Bank district manager, said the bank decided it would be less disrupting to its customers to move straight to a permanent home at a separate site rather than to a temporary location to be used during construction of the Ballard Library project.

"We're looking at several different options (for a new site)," Read said. "We're absolutely committed to staying in the Ballard market."

Currently, the Ballard Library is located at 5711 24th Ave. NW. in a building that was constructed in 1963.

US Bank will vacate its current site in 2003 and the new co-located library and neighborhood service center are expected to open in late 2004.

Library picks Bon Tire site

In June, the Seattle Public Library Board of Trustees voted to build the planned

10,000-square-foot Northgate Library at the former Bon Tire Center property, located at 5th Avenue NE and NE 105th Street. This was the final step in the approval process for the library site.

Under the City's plan, the Northgate Library will share the property with a new community center and a public park.

While many local residents, including some who live in the nearby Maple Leaf neighborhood, urged the City and Library Board to select the Bon Tire site, others favored the parking lot south of Northgate Mall known as the South Lot.

"(The Bon Tire site) is not a large enough site for expansion ... and it's not easily accessed," said.Gloria Butts, a member of the Broadview Community Council.

Other South Lot supporters included two citizen groups that have been urging the City to daylight a section of Thornton Creek that flows beneath the lot in an underground culvert. Construction of the new library is expected to cost $5.1 million and is to be completed in 2004.

For details, call the Seattle Public Library at 386-4624.

Libraries to close, Aug. 26-Sept. 1

Due to a 5 percent cut in its budget for this year, the Seattle Public Library will close all its facilities including its book drops and Web site from Aug. 26-Sept. 1. Libraries will be closed again from Dec. 17-23.

The temporary library closures are expected to save approximately $850,000.