Statement before the Glenn A. Walsh

Board of Directors, P.O. Box 1041

Allegheny Regional Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230-1041 U.S.A.

Asset District: Telephone: 412-561-7876

Abandonment of Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@andrewcarnegie.cc >

Historic North Side Internet Web Site: < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >

Carnegie Library 2006 November 27

Good afternoon. I am Glenn A. Walsh of 633 Royce Avenue, Mt. Lebanon. I was a Life Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie: 1995 to 2000, Library Treasurer: 1995 to 1996, and the Library’s Delegate to the Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA): 1995 to 1999. Today, I am speaking as a private citizen, representing no formal organization, with no affiliation to any library.

According to a news article published in the November 2 issue of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh School Superintendent Mark Roosevelt rejected the proposal, promoted by the Children’s Museum, to move the Rogers CAPA Middle School into the original Allegheny Regional Branch of Carnegie Library, due to the high cost of renovating the Library building. According to the article, Mr. Roosevelt said that the cost of renovating the library "would be two or three times, maybe four or five times the cost of Milliones" (school in the Hill District).

There you have it! Insurance will pay to have the building restored as a library. But, the cost of renovating the Allegheny Regional Library into some other use is beyond the capability of the School District—and they have the ability to float bonds for the project! How could any other non-profit, or for-profit enterprise, afford to reuse the Allegheny Regional Library if the School District considers it unaffordable?

If Carnegie Library to allowed to abandon the Allegheny Regional Library, it will be Buhl Planetarium all over again. The Allegheny Regional Library will sit empty and unused for years and years. After nearly three years, the historic Hazelwood Branch Library building, with a 250-seat auditorium, remains empty and unused with no prospects for future use.

The property on Federal Street, proposed for the new North Side library, could easily be used for commercial or residential purposes. The Allegheny Regional Library cannot easily be used for other purposes!

It is in the best interests of the Regional Asset District to maintain a strong and sustainable urban core, for a continual growing sales tax revenue stream. Allowing Carnegie Library to abandon the original Allegheny Regional Branch building will adversely affect the core of the North Side, including several nearby RAD-funded assets such as the Hazlett Theatre, Children’s Museum, and National Aviary.

To maintain a strong and sustainable North Side, the answer is simple. Use the Federal Street property for a commercial use and use the Allegheny Regional Library as a library, as Andrew Carnegie intended.

You hold the purse-strings for Carnegie Library. You need to tell the Board and Management of Carnegie Library that you oppose any action that will result in an empty library building, in the center of Allegheny Center, for many years to come.

Thank you.

gaw