City of Salinas and allU.S. Credit Union ink a deal paving way for expanded library.

It's an unlikely savior for a public library—but a credit union is kickstarting the capital fund needed to expand the aging, too-small El Gabilan Library on North Main Street in Salinas. 

Tuesday night, Salinas City Council voted 6-1 to sign a 40-year lease with allU.S. Credit Union for a city-owned parcel adjacent to the library, on what's historically served as a Christmas tree lot at Christmastime.

The credit union has agreed to pay then entire $1.4 million lease amount up front, which will go into a fund dedicated to the library expansion. 

Credit union management expects to break ground in April and be open for business about a year from now. (They've already sold their existing building, near the Salinas train station, to the Transportation Agency for Monterey County as part of the agency's plan to expand the city's public transit hub.)

The city will pursue donations and other sources of capital for to complete the $5-7 million project; the Measure V Committee has already approved spending $100,000 on a study to consider what the new library should offer.

As for the credit union's $2.5 million project, CEO Patrick Redo describes it as similar to an Apple store; sleek, modern and high-tech. Imagine tellers approaching you in the lobby to do business on an iPad. 

"In the past, banking was rally about brick-and-mortar," Redo says. "One location may not have been competitive." 

A planned community room in the new location will serve as an educational center for community meetings and sessions on personal finance, like how to balance a checking account or decide on an auto loan. 

While it's a modern building, Redo says in many ways the new spot is a throwback.

"There's a real opportunity in this town for banking as it used to be," he says, "which is relationship banking."