Photo: City of Omaha
(Omaha, NE) -- The City of Omaha announces plans to move the W. Dale Clark Library branch.
On Tuesday, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said that in 2022, the Main Library branch will move from its current location at 215 S. 15th St., to a new location at 1401 Jones St.
Stothert said the city will lease the property at 14th and Jones, owned by the White Lotus Group, for 10 years with an opt-out possibility in five years. The lease will cost the city $465,000 a year. Also included in the move, is a relocation of the Omaha Public Libraries administrative services to the former Shopko location at 84th and Frederick.
Mayor Stothert said the move was prompted by both a consultant's recommendations in 2010 and 2017 to replace the main branch, and developer interest in the site due to the Riverfront development. The first phases of the W. Dale Clark branch's move are slated for the beginning of 2022, ahead of the planned opening of the revitalized Riverfront on Memorial Day weekend.
City leaders estimate the new library branch's cost to be about $3 million, which the city will split the cost of with White Lotus. Funding from the city will come from the General Fund, bonds, and savings incurred by relocating the branch and administrative operations.