The Madison Public Library Board met Monday to discuss a proposal to rebuild the Central Library at its current location, 201 W. Mifflin St.
The Madison Public Library Board originally planned on constructing a new library on West Washington Avenue through Fiore Companies, using the current Central Library for hotel redevelopment.
However, two weeks ago city officials and Fiore Companies failed to reach an agreement on a nearly $2 million budget discrepancy in the construction process. Failure to settle the dispute prompted the city to consider renovating the existing site.
At the meeting, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz presented an outline of the construction dispute between the city and Fiore Companies to the Board, explaining why a compromise could not be reached.
According to Cieslewicz, selling the current building to Fiore Companies for redevelopment was a critical component for funding the construction of the new library. But in Fiore Companies' most recent construction proposal, the offer to buy the current site was withdrawn, resulting in a $2 million gap in funding.
""We believed we could bridge that gap … but we couldn't get there, and so it's time to move on,"" he said.
Cieslewicz emphasized the need to move swiftly into the rebuilding process because current construction costs are historically low.
Cieslewicz estimated that rebuilding the current site would take only two years, but constructing a new library could have taken more than 50 months. He said if development is delayed any longer, the Board would have to fight for money in future state budgets that has already been allocated to them.
""We can produce a building that is in every way every bit as good, if not better than the other proposal ... but delay is deadly.""
The majority of the board showed support for Cieslewicz's proposal, but some members still had concerns.
Board member Allen Arntsen proposed delaying the resolution for reconstruction of the current site until all other options for a new building had been completely exhausted.
""It's more important to do this right than to do this quickly,"" he said.
The Madison Public Library Board will continue to discuss the status of the Central Library redevelopment project.
