(HUNTLEIGH, MO.) Officials from the St Louis County Library announced today the opening of the district’s new 125,000 sq. ft. “René-Auguste Chouteau Jr. Administration Building”, four years to the day their former Administration building in Frontenac opened.
Officials said the old Frontenac facility would be converted into an $82 million “Children’s Virtual Reality Learning Center” and not torn down as originally proposed by library officials last year after public outcry.
“We listened to the people and we responded,” said SLCL spokesperson MacKenzie Brackman. “The Frontenac structure has served us well these last four years but it just became outdated and not suitable for the needs of our administrative staff and executives. Converting it into a leading-edge virtual reality learning center for kids was the right move, absolutely.”
Still, some taxpayer groups have questioned the need for a new Administrative Building, which is not open to the public, in Huntleigh, St Louis’ wealthiest suburb when the existing Administrative Building in Frontenac, another wealthy suburb, was just four years old.
“The Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool, for example. I mean, there’s a ‘Y’ right down the road.”
At publishing time, SLCL officials were drawing up plans for a new $35 million “Administration Annex” on the grounds of the St. Louis Country Club to be built four years from now.