Joplin's former library for sale

Oct. 7—A key downtown Joplin building is being offered for sale for redevelopment or repurposing through a sealed bid process issued by city officials.

Bids are due by Feb. 1 for the former Joplin Public Library building at 302 S. Main St. Building tours for interested bidders have been scheduled Nov. 9 and Dec. 10.

Proposals must include an offer price, a description of intended use, a financial plan, background on similar projects carried out by the bidder and a projection of the economic impact the intended project would be expected to generate.

Bidders may be asked to participate in interviews with the City Council about their proposals.

"It's a beautiful building," Mayor Doug Lawson said. "We are concerned we own a building that's just sitting there. It's in a perfect location, especially since downtown is growing."

Assistant City Manager Tony Robyn said the city is marketing the building rather than simply running ads for it. He said the request for proposals was sent out to lists of developers maintained by both city sources and by the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.

"We think it's an important building in downtown, and we want to handle it a little differently," he said.

It could have a number of uses that might attract interested buyers to the vacant one-block property that offers 35,000 square feet of space and 54 parking spaces, Robyn said.

Lori Haun, executive director of the Downtown Joplin Alliance, said the vacant building leaves a gap in the redeveloping downtown hub.

"That block really needs something to bring energy and life, and connect the 100 and 200 blocks with those to the south. Some ideas might be a food hall, grocery store, or several combined businesses with Main Street facing retail or food offerings," she said. "Maybe someone could do a rooftop bar on it. The outdoor green space brings lots of opportunity for outdoor dining activity."

The future of the building has been in question since the library's new building at 1901 E. 20th St opened in 2017, largely funded by a federal grant as a disaster recovery stimulus project after the 2011 tornado.

During the tornado recovery effort, the downtown library site had been offered to the Kansas City University as a site for the medical school, which was later built at 2901 St. John's Boulevard within the city's medical district, a site donated by Mercy Hospital.

In 2018, officials with the city of Joplin in tandem with Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Southern State University and Joplin School District announced a project to use the building as a business, technology and education hub called Project Launchpad. A $10 million bond issue to fund remodeling for that purpose was to be on the ballot last spring year but was pulled off in November 2021 by city officials. They said it would be difficult to move forward on the project because the former chamber president, who led the effort, had left Joplin for a new job.

Project Launchpad would have had a number of objectives, including providing services for startup businesses and restaurateurs, training in technology and digital jobs, and internships for high school students in Joplin, Webb City and Carl Junction.

Both Robyn and the mayor said the site has extensive history.

Joplin has had a library since 1902, when the Joplin Public Library District was established by voters who authorized a 10-cent tax to operate a public library. A Carnegie Foundation grant of $40,000 paid for the construction of a library building while the tax provided money for operations and maintenance. Efforts to establish a local library started in 1893. A group calling itself the Joplin Public Library Association began meeting and fundraising to seed the eventual effort.

That building was constructed at Ninth Street and Wall Avenue. When library and city officials decided in 1980 to build a new library building at 302 S. Main St. because of a need for more space, the original library building on Wall Avenue was closed and became private property. It was recently damaged by fire, as have a number of old or historic buildings.

Construction of the Main Street building, which opened in 1981, cost $2 million.

It was built on the site of the former historic Connor Hotel, which collapsed Nov. 11, 1978, a day before it was to be demolished after years of vacancy and unsuccessful revitalization attempts. Three workers were trapped in the building's rubble, and rescuer workers found one, Alfred Sommers, alive after three days of rubble search. Bodies of the other two also were recovered.