Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Library Board President Tripp Widder held two separate presentations yesterday, one for City Council representatives and the other for the Library Board, outlining the reasons for continuing with plans for the city to take quick action towards renovating the aging West Mifflin Street library.

Previously, developer Fiore Companies intended to buy the current library site from the city and construct an entirely new library at a new location. Disagreements regarding projected costs led to Fiore Executive Vice President Bill Kunkler and Cieslewicz agreeing to end negotiations. Cieslewicz and Widder then began putting together plans to renovate the library at its current site.

Cieslewicz’s presentation was divided into three sections, including what led to the current situation, the reasons for acting quickly and what the finished project can do for the city.

He said Fiore’s cost for the project was estimated at around $40 million, while city appraisers estimated the true cost to be closer to $35 million. Splitting the difference, a $37 million cost was agreed to.

When further costs were raised by Fiore, Cieslewicz said the decision was made to end talks with the developer.

“At the end of the day, they didn’t work because of costs,” Widder said.

Cieslewicz said the benefits of low building costs, a shortened total project timeline and increased space within the building highlight the need to act toward renovating rather than waiting on a developer to come to terms with the city’s demands.

“One of the beauties of that is there are no contortions, it’s like building a fire station or a police station,” Cieslewicz said.

Still, some remained speculative as to whether the plans to renovate would be in the best interest of the library system and the city.

Troy Thiel, chair of the Downtown Coordinating Committee, said at the Library Board meeting he and the committee will be drafting a position stressing the importance of continued negotiations to construct an entirely new library.

The original plan stipulated for the sale of the current site for the construction of office space and the possibility of a hotel. These potential benefits, he said, could not be ignored.

“This is about job creation for an office building, this is about job creation for a hotel,” Thiel said. “There are reasons why this was overwhelmingly supported.”

At both meetings, concerns were raised by alders and board members as to how the library would continue to function during the proposed remodeling. Simply ceasing service, many said, was not acceptable.

However, at least one alder felt the benefits outweighed the issue.

“I want to do the best that we can do,” Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, said. “If that involves moving the library out for a while, I’m fine with that. I want to do it right.”

The proposal to renovate the library will go before City Council for approval in coming weeks before plans and bidding on the project begins.