Pat and Bill Caldwell have a vision for Toledo.
The couple hopes to turn an empty downtown building into the newest Timberland Regional Library branch.
The Caldwells announced that they would donate the building on Cowlitz Street that formerly housed the Toledo Pharmacy until 2011 and the Daily Grind coffee shop, which closed earlier this month.
“We were just looking around Toledo at all the empty buildings,” Pat Caldwell said. “And we just thought a library would be a great thing for the whole town.”
The Toledo City Council unanimously voted on Monday to look into the process of turning the space into a library.
“We certainly don’t have a lot of money, but we support it,” said Toledo Mayor Jerry Pratt. “I’d love to see it happen. It’d be a great asset to our town.”
Caldwell said she is already in the process of filling out the Timberland Regional Library’s assessment forms for the project. The proposal, she said, must meet five requirements for approval.
The project already is an appropriate distance away from the nearest branch, there is sufficient population to support it, a building space exists, and it has city council approval. Now, the library needs the town’s support behind it.
Caldwell said a library has been on the list for Vision Toledo, a project to revitalize the community, for some time. Additionally, she noted, 50 to 60 Toledo residents attended the council meeting Monday to support the effort.
“So I took that as a positive,” she said.
The Ramsey family has even offered to help remodel the space, Caldwell said.
Once Caldwell finishes the assessment, Timberland representatives will visit the site to determine if they will get involved. Toledo voters would then have to approve a library levy and the city council would have to commit to the specifics on its obligations.
“We’re ready,” Caldwell said. “It’s been something Toledo has wanted for quite some time. Hopefully, it’s now a combination of the right time and a place available.”
