Brushing aside some unexpected opposition, city voters approved a $14 million bond referendum that will pay for a state-of-the-art Maitland Public Library.
The bond referendum won with just under two-thirds of the vote, well over the required 50 percent-plus-one.
Maitland council member Lindsay Hall Harrison said she was “in great spirits” Tuesday evening as ballots came in.
“I am thrilled that the residents of Maitland came out in great numbers to reflect the will of the community, to show up for or library and to support all of the hard work that our community has done to build a plan for the future of our library,” Harrison said.
Maitland city leaders heartily endorsed the proposal to replace the Maitland Public Library with a brand new building that will meet the modern needs of library patrons and asked residents to help pay for it.
The overall cost of the project would be about $19 million. The city has $5 million to put toward the project, while the remaining $14 million would come from the bond referendum.
The typical Maitland homeowner will experience an increase on their property taxes of more than $100 annually with the approval of the bond referendum.
The project plan calls for a 20,000 sq. ft. facility that would comply with current building codes and regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.
The new library will be built in Quinn Strong Park just a block away from the existing historic library building, which will be renovated and repurposed. The new use of the old library has not been determined.
The new library saw significant enthusiasm from Maitland voters. Backers of the project organized a campaign group called Vote for Maitland’s Library, which informed residents about the bond referendum.
Bryan Stewart, chairman for Vote for Maitland’s Library, said that he was “elated” that the effort paid off.
“The people of Maitland really looked forward to seeing this project succeed,” Stewart said. “Now we’re going to write the next chapter that’s going to get us to the 22nd century.”
There was surprising — but ultimately ineffectual — opposition to the $14 million bond. An anonymous campaign committee against the ballot measure, called Maitland’s Folly, manifested itself just weeks before the March 19 election in the form of a mystery mailer.
The mailer purported that the library project’s true cost was $40 million and that the bond referendum will give the Maitland City Council “millions of dollars to spend with little or no accountability.” Maitland’s Folly failed to register as a campaign committee as the law requires.
