Fontana library fundraisers think big

CAMPAIGN: City officials hope to raise $20 million for the project, expected to open in 2008.

Launch Date: 10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, April 25, 2006

By Paul Larocco, The Press-Enterprise

$60 million will build the 93,000-square-foot regional library, resource/technology center and auditorium on Sierra Avenue downtown.

$20 million - $10 million of which is needed for construction - is the city’s fundraising goal for the project, xpected to open in spring 2008.

FONTANA - Reaching its donation goal for the Fontana Library has officials thinking on a level rarely seen in local fundraising.

On Tuesday, the City Council heard its first report on efforts to gather $20 million for the much-anticipated egional library and technology center, which broke ground late last year. And, as Redevelopment Director Ray Bragg put it, the amount of money the city wants to raise has forced plans beyond “car washes and bake sales.”

Instead, it’s five years of capital campaign phases, a newly formed nonprofit foundation and three tiers of committees - all at a cost of around $2 million.

“It’s a much more sophisticated program,” Bragg said before the presentation. “We’re talking hundreds of volunteers.”

The 93,000-square-foot downtown library, including a resource center, coffee bar and auditorium, is expected to open in spring 2008. The city has set aside roughly $50 million to build it, but escalating construction costs require the first $7 million to $10 million of the fundraising campaign to finish the project, City Manager Ken Hunt said. Anything raised after that, he said, would be used for purchasing technology, books
and additional amenities.

The campaign began in earnest earlier this month, when $160,000 was raised through the annual Mayor’s Gala. To date, $1.2 million has been raised, Bragg said, and on Tuesday, the council saw examples of what the city is offering donors in exchange for more money. Entryway tiles ($100), auditorium seats ($250), and full library stacks ($1,000) are all part of efforts to raise funds through offering naming rights to anything
tangible in and outside the library's four walls.

But the council also struggled with how to woo the expected major donors who may want to shell out millions of dollars to name the auditorium, parking garage or the entire library. Councilwoman Janice Rutherford worried that the $10 million tag the city put on naming the entire library was high.

“Big donors are saying, ‘If I want a building named after me, I can get one for $5 million at USC,’” Rutherford said. “‘I don't need to pay 10 in Fontana.’”

Hunt said staff would consider lowering the bar for complete naming rights, while suggesting that it should be up to the council to serve as the face of the campaign - at least when it came to attracting the large corporations willing to write multimillion-dollar checks.

“It should be our job, as the council, to be out there, stoking the fire,” agreed Mayor Mark Nuaimi.

An executive committee for fundraising efforts will hold its first formal meeting next month, while a subcommittee of city employees will host a barbecue a week later.