The historic Central Library in downtown Providence is the cash-strapped system’s most valuable financial asset.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE — The Providence Public Library is considering selling its historic 107-year-old Central Library downtown to shore up its troubled finances and move to a more user-friendly location.

The library is trying to fix structural problems in its finances that have led it to reduce hours, lay off workers and consider closing branches in the last few years.

The private, nonprofit library is trying to work out an agreement with the city to erase its budget deficit, but it is also looking at the value of its properties as it tries to generate cash.

Without question, the most valuable of the library’s holdings is the 115,000 square foot Central Library building at Washington and Empire streets. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and was valued by the city at $16 million in the late 1990s, before the downtown building boom.

“We may be sitting on $16 million that could be put to different use,” said Lisa Churchville, chairwoman of the library’s board of trustees, adding that the building could be worth much more than that.

“This central library is in a neighborhood that’s not particularly easy to access and [lacks] parking. There may be another way to serve the public and to serve the neighborhoods,” she said.

Library Executive Director Dale Thompson has been in talks with real-estate firms to discuss listing the building and what price it would garner. There have also been inquiries from developers about whether the library would consider selling the building, which was built in 1900 for $387,000 and added to in 1953.

“With the various developments in this neighborhood, we know that there has been developer interest in this building,” Thompson said.

The library is also considering hiring an outside assessment firm to determine the value of its nine branches, most of which are older buildings in need of serious maintenance.

The Providence Public Library is a private, nonprofit organization that has provided library services for the city for more than 100 years without a contract. The city contributes $3 million annually to the library budget. The public library system includes the Central Library downtown, the nine branches and the Rhode Island Statewide Reference Resource Center in the Central Library.

Among the branches is Washington Park, which has been closed because of a leaky roof and other structural problems.

The library’s branches are operating under a one-year agreement with the city that allows the library to operate at a deficit in its $8.6-million budget so long as it maintains services and works with a group of mayoral appointees and library trustees to identify options for the future. The operating agreement ends June 30.

Any plans to sell the Central Library are in the earliest stages, and while library officials would prefer a location nearer to residential neighborhoods and with better parking, no sites have been targeted yet. But they say they could serve the public better with a newer, more modern library, in a location that provides easier access and parking.

“We could build some more of a neighborhood feeling with a new Central Library. We could have a library that was open seven days a week, with parking,” Churchville said.

But the notion of selling the library worries some, particularly when it raises the possibility that the building could be knocked down by a developer eager to acquire the downtown real estate, but not the historic building.

“I would hope that we don’t sell to someone who’s going to bulldoze the building,” said Oliver Bennett, chairman of the Providence Public Library Foundation.

Jack Gold, executive director of the Providence Preservation Society, said that realistically, no one is going to approve tearing the Italian Renaissance-style building down if it’s sold — it’s too important to the architecture of the city, and its place on the national register guarantees it a certain status.

“I think there would be a tremendous outcry for that building,” Gold said. “I think that people would agree that this building is a really unique part of the architectural fabric of our city.”

But Gold said that preservationists have been worried about the library property for some time, after seeing the outside of the building deteriorate recently due to lack of maintenance, including broken glass in the light fixtures.

“I’ve been watching the building closely because I understand that there are financial difficulties. It’s unfortunate that there hasn’t been enough exterior maintenance to the building. It sends a signal when you see broken glass — these are all minor little things, but they send a signal about the state of the building.”

The Central Library sits in an area that has seen heavy development in the last few years. The nearby Holiday Inn was just converted to a Hilton hotel, the Dunkin’ Donuts Center is undergoing an extensive renovation, and next door, the Proccacianti Group is considering a large office tower at the site of the former police and fire headquarters.

Karl Sherry, a partner in the commercial real-estate firm of Hayes & Sherry, said that the building could be a huge draw, depending on the price and contingent on whether the parking situation could be solved.

“It’s a handsome building. It’s a good location — I think it’s a very good location. At the right price, there would be a market for it,” he said.

Sherry said that the best use for the building in the current market might be as office space.

“There’s some demand for office downtown, but there’s got to be some convenient available parking.

“The parking is really the key to a lot of the values these days,” he said.

Library officials said that Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse, the Baltimore developer in the midst of several major historic renovations in Providence, has inquired about the library building.

The musings about selling the library came out at a meeting yesterday of the library’s board of trustees. What happens next is largely contingent on the ongoing discussions with the city over the terms of its future contract. Library officials yesterday reiterated that they are seeking a written contract with the city, one that does not force them to dip into their $37-million endowment or allow the mayor to place political appointees on their board of trustees.

Mayor David N. Cicilline said through a spokesperson that it’s his position that it’s premature to talk about individual buildings, and that any piece of property needs to be looked at in a broader context of the state of the libraries. He also said that it’s important to let the working group finish its analysis and present its recommendations before discussing what to do with specific buildings.

dbarbari@projo.com