Preservation lawsuit over Hamline-Midway library blamed for $2.3 million cost increase

With the end of a yearslong lawsuit over historic preservation, the demolition and reconstruction of a St. Paul’s Hamline-Midway library will start this year.

Construction bids are set to close Jan. 21, and some work to remove hazardous materials has already started.

The St. Paul library system has been trying to tear down the brick library building on Minnehaha Avenue and replace it with a new building that is more accessible for people with disabilities. But in 2022, a group of neighbors sued to block the city’s plans. The group hoped for less-drastic renovations to the existing library, which dates from 1930, saying the building is historically significant and arguing renovation was more environmentally-friendly than tearing the library down and building a new one.

Courts decided the lawsuit in the city’s favor in December 2024. But the fight delayed the project for two years, said Joshua Schaffer, library deputy director for operations, during a library board meeting Wednesday. The increase in construction costs over those two years has meant a $2.3 million increase in the cost of the project, which now stands at $10.4 million.

The library system has $8.1 million earmarked for the construction, but is looking to grants and other public funds to close the gap.

“Delays are costly,” said Council President Mitra Jalali, whose ward includes the Hamline-Midway library. Jalali said she looked forward to getting the library back open.

The Hamline-Midway library is one of a trio of St. Paul libraries slated for big changes in the next few years. The city is also eyeing significant work at the Hayden Heights library on the East Side and the Riverview library on the West Side.

Cost increases have also dogged planned renovations at the Hayden Heights library. The estimate to renovate the White Bear Avenue library is now $700,000 more than it was in 2022, and the library is trying to find grants.

The cost of renovations at the Riverview Library is expected to rise too when final construction drawings are completed. The last estimate, in 2022, pegged the cost at $7.7 million.

Other minor refreshes are underway at three other city libraries.

The library on Rice Street in the North End, the Merriam Park library and the downtown Central Library are also slated to get new furniture, as well as meeting rooms with more technology early this year, intended for people working from home and looking for office space. That grant-funded work will be finished this year.

Library design services project manager Marika Staloch said the libraries are building up rooms geared toward people who use them for remote work and need spots to take meetings and phone calls.

The libraries are also looking to upgrade children’s play areas in the coming years. Staloch said the library system is searching for a consultant who could design a demonstration site in a city library.