THE NORTHWEST CURRENT
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008; page 11
by Doug Wonderlic
I urge library patrons and Janney Elementary School parents — both current and prospective — to insist on the immediate suspension of the public-private partnership effort for Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library and Janney. As reported by Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E at its May 8 meeting, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development is moving quickly to select a developer. After initially removing the library from the development mix, the deputy mayor’s office has now changed its mind and added the library back in.
Without a public-private partnership, the D.C. Public Library system has produced a library design praised by the Commission of Fine Arts as “a very strong concept,” “a building the whole neighborhood will be proud of” and “an extremely intelligent and wonderful design.” This creative design was achieved through true competition. More than two dozen library design architects submitted their qualifications for this project. The design competition was open to all of the best library architects in the country, not to development teams that could offer the best deal.
If the deputy mayor’s office does not interfere, construction of the new library will also involve true competition. This project will be put out to bid in the next few months based on 100 percent construction documents and will likely attract a large number of interested contractors, all bidding on exactly the same detailed design. The community has benefited and will continue to benefit from clarity and competition throughout planning, design and construction. As a result, the entire library process will inspire community confidence.
The library system has met all of its deadlines for planning and design, and it is on track to produce a beautiful and distinctive library by March 2010. Any delays now will add significant costs to construction and once again defer the day when our community enjoys its new library. The library site is small, but in the hands of its creative design team it can accommodate a library building that aesthetically and practically will become a symbol of Tenleytown and its love of learning. Library patrons and the Tenleytown community should not settle for anything less.
I recommend that Janney parents adopt the successful library model and insist on the same clarity and competition in producing school improvements. Only then will there be community confidence. To date, we have seen only a vague process. The city’s request-for-proposals process was intentionally vague and has become even murkier with constant changes in the requirements. The lack of clarity in the public-private partnership procedure has produced minimal competition in attracting developers. Compared to the process used by library officials, proposals from the three developers show little evidence that robust competition will be achieved in either the design or construction of school improvements, and little evidence that any of the developers will be able to complete their obligations in a timely manner.
Now is the time to stop the public-private partnership fiasco and allow Janney to proceed with proper planning. Currently, officials are pushing a hurried deal to take Janney’s land before Janney determines its students’ future needs. Proper planning involves an objective assessment of both facility and openspace needs for the school, determined through a formal educational specifications report. Such planning can lead to true competition in both the design and construction of school improvements
In conclusion, the Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library should be a stand-alone building, enabling it to serve as a much-needed visual symbol for the Tenleytown community. The costly and time-consuming public-private partnership effort should be suspended. The city should provide Janney Elementary with funds to prepare an educational specifications report. Then Janney should decide its own future without the pressure of an unnecessary and artificial deadline.
Doug Wonderlic is a retired facilities planner and a Tenleytown resident.
