The Pima County Board of Supervisors is set to vote Tuesday on a contract to purchase the Wells Fargo building in downtown Tucson for $6.2 million to serve as the new main library branch.
The bank is located at Alameda Street, across Stone Avenue from the aging Joel D. Valdez Main Library. The Wells Fargo building was previously touted as a temporary space for possible repairs at Valdez but the meeting agenda describes it as a definitive location, stating that the building “will be converted into the new downtown main library.”
The 61,274-square-foot building includes an adjacent 219-space parking garage, 132 of which would be available to library visitors and the general public.
The building, built by the now-defunct Southern Arizona Bank and Trust in 1957, was the main branch office of Wells Fargo and was closed in 2023, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
The Wells Fargo complex’s size exceeds the square foot requirement the library was looking for, according to a November memo.
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According to the purchase contract, the site offers a central location, sufficient space, and potential income from public parking. It would be converted into the new main library for the Pima County Public Library system.
The library would move out of the building across the street, which the county leases from the city of Tucson and would require more expensive renovations.
In a March library advisory board meeting, county officials spoke about their commitment to a library presence downtown but it was unclear whether that meant retaining its current spot on Stone Avenue or moving elsewhere in the vicinity.
The Tucson Public Library began in 1883, initially located on the top floor of city hall. With a $25,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie it was moved to the current home of the Children’s Museum on Sixth Avenue.
In May 1990 it arrived at its current home —the site of Jácome’s department store on Stone Avenue — and was named in honor of former Tucson City Manager Joel D. Valdez.
The Valdez library building is leased to the county through June 30, 2056.
The library district is responsible for repair and maintenance of the building that includes “custodial care, maintenance, repair and when necessary replacement of the roof, ceiling, light fixtures, heating system, cooling system, panic hardware and cylindrical locks, plumbing, electrical wiring, windows, building systems, termite pest control, and interior flooring and walls,” according to the contract.
The city is responsible for the repair and maintenance of the exterior marble veneer of the Valdez building, the outside plaza and the adjoining garage.
The library’s aging structure has made improvements a priority in recent years.
In Pima County’s infrastructure plan for 2026 to 2035, the library renovation is listed as one of five library priority projects. The document estimates the deferred maintenance cost for that building at $3.5 million in 2025-2026. Total costs to renovate the building are estimated at $86 million.
In the March advisory meeting, library advisory board members said they didn’t want to put millions of dollars into a costly renovation, but were uncertain about moving quickly to purchase a new building.
“I just can’t see pouring that much money into a facility that is valued at way under what we’d be spending to rehab it,” library advisory board member Anna Sanchez, appointed by former Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, said during the meeting.
Other board members said they were disappointed the building needed such extensive repairs.
“Both city and county are saying we deferred maintenance, we broke it, we’re done with it, which is very disappointing,” said board member Mary Ann O’Neil, appointed by Supervisor Matt Heinz, during the meeting.
Corrections and clarifications: This story has been updated to include the total estimated cost of renovating the current downtown library building — around $86 million. Maintenance costs are estimated at $3.5 million in 2025-2026.
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