Tuscaloosa Public Library no longer relocates Saban Center
Tuscaloosa Public Library will no longer switch to multi-organization Saban Center once opened.
The Saban Center, which is part of Raise Tuscaloosa and sponsored by the Nick’s Kids Foundation, will be located in the old Tuscaloosa News building and will include the Tuscaloosa Children’s Hands-On Museum, Tuscaloosa’s Children’s Theater and other available organizations and activities.
In July, the library’s board of directors unanimously approved a plan estimated at $ 31.5 million for the future move to the Saban center. But since then, some board members have started raising concerns about budgeting.
The Tuscaloosa Public Library Board of Directors announced on Monday that plans to move its main branch to the Saban Center will not go ahead. They provided WVUA 23 with the following statement on Tuesday:
“At the end of last week, the Tuscaloosa Public Library was informed that it would not be included in the Saban Center. While the board of directors was keen to see TPL included in this project, long-term funding for the operation of the TPL portion of the project could not be secured within the time constraints of the project.
“Because the majority of TPL’s funding comes from government funding sources, TPL depends on this funding for its operations. Despite discussions with financial partners, we were unable to find a long-term financing solution within the required timeframe.
“Any statement that the Library made a decision not to participate in the project is not correct.
“TPL understands that due to the timeline and commitments, the Saban Center project must move forward, and we wish the project every success and look forward to this valuable addition to our community. TPL continues to be committed to serving its customers, working with its financial partners and renovating the current location to provide the best possible service to its customers.
While TPL will not be included in the Saban Center, we are excited about our long term plans and what the future holds for us to make the best use of our current locations.