DELAND — Volusia County offiicals Thursday closed the book on rumors that the Daytona Beach Regional Library at City Island will be relocated.

"There is no plan to move that building," County Manager Jim Dinneen said, moments before the council appproved the purchase of $271,341 worth of new furniture, mostly bookshelves, to replace what was damaged by Hurricane Irma in September — part of an estimated $1.5 million repair effort that's eligible for FEMA reimbursement. "We are going to be in that building for the long run."

The"destination library" will be even better once the repairs are complete to the now-closed and gutted facility, Dinnen said, and the public will notice a drastic difference when it reopens in April.

"The downside is the damage and the time it takes. ...For all the heartache, you're going to have a lot nicer facility than you had before the storm. It will really look good."

The comments attempted to quash rumors after County Chair Ed Kelley told business leaders at a Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce event in December that he'd be open to look at relocating the library, which opened in 1977 but has been closed since September due to flood damage from the hurricane.

“I never, ever once said to tear the library down,” Kelley explained to council recently. “I said we should look at possibly relocating it, and if I didn’t say ‘possibly,’ that’s what I meant.”

Some of the confusion, Kelley said, could have occurred from people misreading recent press accounts, which documented past proposals to move the library and clear City Island for development. For example, in 2013, former councilman Josh Wagner proposed moving the library from City Island to the Dunn building or the historic YWCA on Beach Street and replacing it with a $300 million to $400 million, 1,000-unit residential development. Talks of development on City Island go back decades, to at least the 1960's.

Kelley feels his comments got blown out of proportion. “The next thing I know, they’re tearing down the Jack (the ballpark) and they’re tearing down the tennis courts and the sailing and everything else. None of that was even mentioned in the discussion. It ticked me off, to be honest with you, and that’s exactly how rumors get started.”

Kelley also stressed the idea of considering where the library should be located was his personal opinion, not a council position.

“My statement was, ‘Yes we should look at it,'” he said. “I think anytime there’s an opportunity to make something better, you look at it. Who would want to have a closed mind about something?”

Rumors

Resting adjacent to Beach Street and the historic Jackie Robinson Ballpark, the then 37,000 square-foot library was built on City Island in 1977 with $2.1 million in federal funds, according to Daytona Beach Friends of the Library.

Since, the library has become a place where people can watch Elvis impersonators, learn tai chi, take up cooking lessons, or rent movies. Soon, it will be a place to play.

The council in December of 2016 approved building a playground behind the City Island Library, enclosed by a six-foot fence only accessible to patrons. The City of Daytona Beach paid for the fence, while the county paid $350,000 for playground equipment, two pavilions, sidewalk, security lighting and security cameras.

That construction was nearing completion when Hurricane Irma damaged the facility with floodwaters, blowing in a new wave of questions about its future.

After Kelley's comments at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast in December, people reacted on social media pages like Facebook. Lucinda Colee, Volusia's Director of Library Services, said she began receiving phone calls from concerned patrons asking when, and if, the library would reopen. Gayellen Wagner, vice president of the Daytona Beach Friends of the Library, wrote a letter to the News-Journal's Editorial Board.

“When will the politicians and the developers understand that City Island is deeded to the public, and as such is not for sale,” Wagner wrote, adding, “Leave our library and City Island alone. They and their setting belong to the people — all the people, rich and poor, resident and tourist.”

Councilwoman Billie Wheeler said all the negative comments and false rumors give the appearance that the council is "planning something under the curtain" when it isn't.  

"This is an absolutely gorgeous facility. We are not going to leave this facility and we don't have plans for it," she said. "We are also building that playground that is going to be dedicated very shortly."

The fence, concrete work and a couple playground pavilions were in place before Hurricane Irma struck and did not sustain any damage, according to county officials.  It's expected to open when the library reopens in April.

During the meeting Thursday, Dinneen also addressed another rumor he's heard floating around: The county has plans to remove services, like license tag renewals, from New Smyrna Beach, where the courthouse recently closed after a judge order.

"We would never recommend moving all those services out," Dinneen said. "There's this thought we are going to abandon other services out there. Well, no. That's also another rumor that needs to be squashed."

— Staff Writer Tony Jarmusz Contributed to this Report