Town e-mails state that it’s unlikely the Chapel Hill Public Library will move to University Mall.
After discussing the possibility of relocating the library to the mall for many months, an e-mail Town Manager Roger Stancil sent to Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and council members Wednesday states that the town staff will not endorse the move at Monday night’s Chapel Hill Town Council meeting.
In the e-mail, Stancil writes that neither he nor Madison Marquette Managing Director Jay Lask has found “a level of savings that makes this an attractive offer to the Town.”
Stancil wrote that he never entered negotiations with Madison Marquette, the company that owns the Dillard’s space in University Mall where the library would have moved to, but he did encourage the company to put its best offer on the table.
“While initiating negotiations would provide an opportunity to clarify many of the issues raised, those negotiations would not likely increase the savings and would delay the opening of the new library facilities,” Stancil wrote.
According to the e-mail, Stancil expects the staff “to proceed with final design and construction of the expansion project at the current site.”
In an earlier e-mail, Lask wrote that the original savings of $3 to $4 million his company anticipated for the town was now about $1.5 million.
“I would not anticipate the Town will wish to support University Mall option,” Lask wrote.
