Mayor Dave Cieslewicz decided Tuesday to give the city control of the new Central Library project as the city and the developer, Fiore Companies, have failed to reach an agreement on costs.

The city will either buy the rights to the new library’s site from Fiore, who would act as a developing manager, or end the partnership with Fiore and remodel the existing library itself, Cieslewicz said.

Cieslewicz said in an e-mail Tuesday the city has decided to convert the library into a public works project, meaning the city will build the library by itself. He said he felt the plan was much simpler than the initial proposal.

Initially, Fiore proposed they build the exterior of the library for $27 million and sell it to the city, Fiore Executive President William Kunkler said. The city would then construct the interior of the new library building as a public works project.

“The basic plan was for Fiore to build a library that would cost no more than $37 million,” Cieslewicz said. “In negotiations with them, they were not able to guarantee that price and that’s the basic problem we’re facing.”

While Cieslewicz said Fiore was not able to match the original price, Kunkler said the city made assumptions that Fiore would develop the project for a couple million dollars less. Kunkler added this prevented Fiore from being able to meet the city’s request.

“There’s a difference between what we offered to build and what the city planned on paying us,” Kunkler said.

According to Fiore’s blog, the companies cannot develop the library as originally intended by the city because of disagreement over costs. Although Fiore may play a role in the project’s development, the city would own and build the new library.

Kunkler said Fiore has invested a lot of time and resources into the project. He said the companies also had an emotional investment as they rallied for support of the new library in communities over the past two years.

“To have [the project] yanked out from under us, in quite frankly a rude manner, is very disheartening,” Kunkler said.

If the city builds the new library, Fiore has asked Cieslewicz for compensation. However, the two parties disagree over the appropriate dollar amount. Fiore is requesting $2.7 million for their work completed to date, while Cieslewicz said he thinks $100,000 is more suitable.

Cieslewicz said the city believes Fiore is asking for too much money. He added some of the things the companies seek compensation for have not been done yet, including administration for the construction of the building.

No final decision has been made about the library’s fate as the city and Fiore are still negotiating to reach an agreement, Cieslewicz said.

“One way or another, we will build a new library downtown,” Cieslewicz said. “We will build it on budget and on time. It’s just a question of whether we build on West Washington Street as Fiore proposed or remodel the existing library.”