Colorado Springs residents call on city to help pay Rockrimmon Library lease before it closes

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Ahead of the Pikes Peak Library District's (PPLD) closure of it's Rockrimmon location next month, residents gathered in front of, and within, Colorado Springs City Hall to protest the closure, calling upon the city council to allocate hundreds of thousands of dollars to help keep the location open for the next year.

The saga began in the summer of 2024, when both the Rockrimmon and Ruth Holley libraries in Colorado Springs, were being considered as facilities that would not have their leases renewed, in the name of budget adjustments for the PPLD.

The suggestions came from a Master Building Plan that was done to evaluate all of the buildings and facilities within the PPLD, since it had been several years since the last Master Building Plan had been conducted.

KRDO13 previously reported that the Rockrimmon Library was the 4th most attended of the PPLD locations in 2023, with over 140,000 patrons coming through their doors. Meanwhile, the Ruth Holley Library served over 104,000 people last year and was up 17,000 more patrons compared to 2022.

Ultimately, in mid-October, the PPLD Board voted 5-2 to not renew the lease of the Rockrimmon location. The district recently announced a final closing date for the building would be December 1, 2024.

It's because of the decision, despite a packed crowd at the PPLD Board meeting in October, that rally-goers gathered outside of Colorado Springs City Hall, asking for $200,000 to help keep the location open for the next year.

The group believes that the Master Building Plan that the district was following, does not justify closing the Rockrimmon Library, and that the District made a ill-informed decision, too quickly, instead of considering other viable options first.

"It seemed like they jumped on that one so quickly. And the impression I got was, 'Don't confuse us with the facts, we've mad eup our mind'." explained Joe Pelka, a representative for the rally movement on Tuesday.

Pelka other residents say that the seniors and the youth in the area rely on the libraries accessibility, including children who utilize the facility after school.

"Lots of those students will come in after school and use the library facilities in a safe situation while they're waiting for their parents to come home from school," explained Pelka, "One of the more important things is just a community room in there, gets used for many different civic groups, whether it be the club planners, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts." he later added.

Skip Haffner, a father of two girls who used the library multiple times a week, and even still does with his wife now that his children are more grown up, says the looming closure is a disappointment.

"It was a great not just place to get books, but it was also a place to hang out, meet folks around the community and work with the kids. Right. So and and it makes me really sad that that won't be there for future generations if they don't keep it." said Haffner on Tuesday afternoon.

Dora Gonazalez, the President of the Board of Trustees for the PPLD, tells KRDO13 that she completely understands the passion and disappointment from residents, however she also believes there is a misunderstanding as to why the decision to close the library was made.

"I myself as an educator, have experienced closures, and there's always a backlash. I am very pleased to see the passion of the community. And I would probably be there with them if I was not in this position because I am a proponent of that." said Gonazalez on Tuesday ahead of the rally.

She explains that financially, the Master Plan kept pointing to Rockrimmon as the most costly space they owned, since it was a yearly lease, and not owned directly by the district.

"Rockrimmon was the most expensive lease at $242,000, that was the lease for the year, plus we had around $25,000 in utilities." explained Gonzalez.

She adds that for the PPLD as a whole, the future also looks rather expensive.

"[There's] $20 million of deferred maintenance, so we don't have money to fix [that] right now." Gonzalez added, saying those expenses would be needed over a 10-year span.

The Board of Trustees President also alluded to some kind of consolation for residents, about the existence of a library in Rockrimmon in the future.

"We're not renewing the lease, but that doesn't mean there will never be a library in that location, because we don't know. We don't know." Gonzalez said.

She goes on to say that the staff from the Rockrimmon location will be dispersed amongst other library facilities, which Gonzalez says will help since the PPLD is understaffed.

After hearing from upwards of 20 speakers on Tuesday afternoon, the Colorado Springs City Council say that they'll be extending an invite to the library district's board to come to their November 20th work session, to have the board answer questions about their budget, and their thought process behind making the lease cancellation.

Despite agreeing with many of the arguments made by residents who spoke on Tuesday, Council President Randy Helms says that he doesn't necessarily believe that the city's taxpayer dollars, within their reserve funds, should be used to keep the Rockrimmon library open. He instead insinuated that the PPLD has millions in their reserve funds, and that would be a part of the discussion with the board of trustees moving forward.

At least one other council-member agreed with the notion.

The library is set to close on December 1.