The Chillers at Memphis's Main Library Have as Little as Two Years Left. Asked What Is in the FY2027 Budget for Them, General Services Said Nothing.

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library runs on two 600-ton chillers more than 20 years old and four boilers 25 years old. General services told the council on August 4 that replacement money starts in 2028 and beyond. A council member asked directly whether anything is going into 2027. The answer was no.

MEMPHIS, August 4, 2026 - The two water-cooled chillers that air condition the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library have between two and five years of useful life remaining, and the City of Memphis has not put money into the current fiscal year's capital budget to replace them.

That exchange happened at the Libraries and Neighborhood Improvement Committee on August 4, during an update on facility conditions and maintenance at the Central Library requested by Chairwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington.

The director of general services opened with the good news. The cooling towers at the building, installed around 2021, are in good shape, have been maintained, and have more than 12 years of remaining life.

Then he went through the rest.

The library has two water-cooled chillers rated at 600 tons. Both are more than 20 years old. One is operating in fair condition. Staff are still making repairs to the other. Together they have between two and five years of remaining life, and he told the committee the city has to start planning to replace them.

The building's heating system is four fire tube boilers. They are 25 years old and in fair condition and operating, and he said the city again has to start the budgeting process to change them out over the next two to three years.

What "fair" means

Chairwoman Swearengen-Washington asked him to define the word. She said she wanted to understand what "fair" means for a chiller and a boiler 20 or 25 years into service.

He said a system in fair condition is one operating at maximum capacity, still working as well as it does because of preventive maintenance performed over its life, and that fair means it is doing what it needs to do while the city performs tasks to keep it going. He said fair condition means that at some point it gets worse, moves into poor condition, and reaches the point where it will not get any better and has to be changed out. He said the department is in the planning stages to say that in the next budget it is time to start replacing the equipment.

The question about the five-year plan

Chairwoman Rhonda Logan asked whether replacements like these appear in the long-term plans the administration presents, the five-year capital improvement outlook, because she did not recall seeing chiller replacements in them.

He said some major modification systems are already included, but at a larger, non-itemized number. He said the department had just completed a facility condition assessment and would use it to strategically schedule what has to go into the budget and planning stages.

She asked whether the chillers and boilers are on a schedule, and whether that schedule is included in the budgets already presented for 2027, 2028 and 2029.

He said he would have to check whether this one is in the next five-year plan for the library.

She asked the question plainly. Is nothing going to be added to 2027?

He said nothing to 2027, but 2028 and above and beyond, yes.

What is funded

Several items at the building are moving.

The escalator project is scheduled for completion on August 30, with a couple of items remaining. Elevator modernization begins immediately after the escalator project is complete, runs about 12 more weeks, and is scheduled for completion on November 30, 2026.

The carpet is scheduled for replacement during fiscal year 2027 with capital improvement funding targeted directly at Central. In the interim, the library was meeting with its janitorial contractor about more frequent cleaning of the meeting rooms, which the library staffer said get heavy enough use that the standard six-month cycle is not adequate.

Grounds work was underway the morning of the meeting. The director said he had visited the site the day before, saw grass that was too tall and debris that should have been picked up, and called his staff from the parking lot. He said crews were on site that morning cutting grass and clearing debris.

Pressure washing was done over the preceding weekend and did not achieve what staff wanted. The deputy director explained why. The sidewalks were installed when the building was built in 2001. About three years later a decorative black material with a metal flake was added on top to make them sparkle, and no sealant was applied over it. The result is roughly 25 years of dirt driven down into the cement. Staff are looking at a deeper treatment, possibly sand blasting, followed by resealing.

A licensed window cleaning contractor is being engaged for all the glass in the entry area.

What the chairwoman said she wanted

Chairwoman Swearengen-Washington told the committee she had gone to the library, found conditions that needed to be addressed, and that she wanted the building to be inviting because it is the main library and sets the tone for the others. She said she had held a meeting there and was embarrassed by the condition of the area, the carpet and the windows.

The library staffer said the department had implemented a new comment sheet system after the last time he appeared before the committee, so that any staff member seeing something that needs correcting can log it, the janitorial supervisor is notified that day, and the correction is made the same day. He said it has already made large gains.

Councilwoman Logan asked the department to send the council the maintenance plan for all the libraries, not just Central, including what it would cost, what it would include, how often the work would happen, and what it would yield in extended life and quality. She said older buildings deteriorate quickly without that and that the council often does not factor maintenance in during budget season and then ends up back at square one.

Councilwoman Pearl Eva Walker asked the department to bring back the annual revenue generated at the location from meeting room rentals, noting the library no longer charges fines and library cards are free. The library staffer said meeting room rental is generally free unless the user is a large nonprofit, and committed to bringing exact numbers.

What happens next

The department agreed to return to the committee in two months with an update. It also agreed to provide a maintenance plan covering all library facilities, exact revenue figures for the Central Library, and to check whether the chiller and boiler replacements are in the existing five-year capital plan. The escalator project is scheduled for completion August 30 and elevator modernization for November 30, 2026.

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