McAllen library plans up in the air

McALLEN - Plans to convert a former Wal-Mart building into the city's new main library could be facing the wrecking ball.

City commissioners are now considering demolishing the existing 128,604-square-foot structure and building a new, four-story library, City Manager Mike Perez said on Wednesday.

"The architect said he could knock it down and build it from scratch for the same price," Perez said.

At a meeting that evening, commissioners ordered the architects on the project to draw up a new master plan for the 15-acre site, Deputy City Manager Brent Branham said. He added they were considering "multiple options."

"One of the options is to explore a smaller footprint on the site," he said, referring to the possibility of a four-story building instead of a one-floor facility spread wide on the property. "That's to be determined in the feasibility study."

The city bought the Wal-Mart property at the intersection of North 23rd Street and Nolana in 2006 for $5 million.

But plans to rehab it into a library were bogged down in March when the architects announced a project budget of $23.3 million, considerably higher than the $14.8 million the city had budgeted.

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James Osborne covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.