Fate of older library building is undecided

The old Sisters Library. photo by Conrad Weiler

With the recent practice burn at the old Sisters Middle School site, attention will now focus on the replacement buildings proposed for that site. A new library, scheduled during 2005, a new City Hall and possibly a school administration structure are on the planning board.

The two existing library buildings, both owned by the City of Sisters, will thus be empty sometime in 2005. The newer of these, completed in 1990, still offers valuable space for various uses. The older and smaller building, built in 1939, may be lost in the building shuffle.

This older building has served Sisters area residents for nearly three generations. Many people speak fondly of it and would like to save it. However, there are important bottom line questions to be answered by the Deschutes Public Library District: What uses can this building support and who pays for it?

Three possibilities present themselves for the future: 1. Demolish the old library building and retrieve valuable downtown land. 2. Leave it standing and let the city decide what to use it for. 3. Move it onto the new library site adjacent to the new buildings.

The second and third choices open the possibility of using the historic library building as a museum for various papers, pictures and other artifacts of Sisters history.

Choice 3 is the most expensive. Moving the old library building would cost $20-25,000 plus renovation to bring the building up to code standards.

A final possibility would be to form a Sisters area historical society and seek grant money to support a museum in the old library building. Jean Nave, President of Black Butte Ranch Historical Society, has suggested the possibility of forming such a group and the old library would seem to make a good fit in offering a housing location.

Presently, the old library building houses books that are used in the Friends of the Sisters Library book sales during the year.

It also hosts meetings of the Sisters Library Advisory Council and other groups.

The old library building was originally located on Cascade Avenue (near the present Depot Deli) and moved to its present site, 151 Spruce Street, in 1980.