To the editor:

An out-of-town moving company moved the Lawrence Public Library! Why in the world would a city-owned project of this magnitude be given to a Lenexa firm? Surely, there are local moving companies who could have capably completed this temporary move to the former Borders store.

My understanding is that the architectural firm of Gould Evans only contacted six movers to bid on the project. I know for a fact that one of Lawrence’s oldest, homegrown moving companies, which has moved museums and other large facilities, was not even contacted. In the end, our tax dollars and employment opportunities went to a firm in Johnson County.

An article in the Feb. 1 Journal-World about the proposed new rec center discussed the fact that a public outcry marked a reversal of the controversial proposal to limit the number of companies that could bid on the project. Perhaps Lawrence residents simply were unaware that the bidding process for the library move was so restricted.

It is hard for me to believe those who voted for a new, expanded library in Lawrence envisioned people outside the city reaping monetary benefits from this move or that a bidding process would be so limited. I should imagine these taxpayers also assumed that all of the local moving companies would be given a chance to throw their hats in the ring. Perhaps none of these Lawrence companies could have won the competitive bid, but we’ll never know, will we?