St. Paul Mayor Backs New Neighborhood Library

ST. PAUL-Despite his city’s a budget crunch, St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly is recommending that the city go ahead with a $9-million plan to replace its Lexington library. The recommendation was part of the city’s 2004 $84-million capital-improvement program, which will go to the St. Paul City Council for review on Sept. 10. The council is not expected to adopt a budget until later in the year.

The Lexington library has structural and other problems, and it is the last of the city’s neighborhood libraries to get a major renovation. The library is on the corner of University and Dale in St. Paul.

One of the 18 projects that did not get funding was a $5.8-million request to pay for sewer, lighting and streets for the River Bluff Village housing development on West 7th and Otto Streets in St. Paul. The city’s planning department had asked for $800,000 in 2004 and $5 million in 2005 for the project, but Kelly is recommending only $800,000 in 2005.