Plenty of ideas have been floated for the old downtown Central Library, which has sat empty since the new one opened in 2013.
Police wanted to turn it into an evidence storage center. Entrepreneurs wanted to make it a startup hub. And advocates have long pushed for a homeless shelter.
Last year, it looked like the city was getting closer to bringing one of those ideas to fruition. They put out an official request and urged those who responded to submit proposals to redevelop the old library into a hub or incubator for tech startups.
Three groups responded with proposals, but Mayor Kevin Faulconer looked at the pitches and didn’t like what he saw. He decided to halt the request process, and now people are again pushing the city to consider using the library to house the city’s growing homeless population.
NBC 7’s Monica Dean and Voice of San Diego’s Lisa Halverstadt outline the idea to use the old Central Library as a temporary shelter for the homeless.
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