In an attempt to prevent the city of Madison from falling deeper in debt, recently sworn in Mayor Paul Soglin stalled construction on a public library project.
The project at hand has been in the works for several years under the guidance of former Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and seeks to renovate the Central Public Library which is located on the corner of North Fairchild and West Mifflin streets. Renovations would cost $29.5 million.
The funding is divided as such: $17 million comes from general obligation bonds, $8 million from privately collected funds and the last $4.5 million from new market tax credits.
However, in lieu of the previously planned private funds promised, the library was counting on the city fronting it the money to be repaid later. Soglin says he wants to avoid this previously agreed upon loan process, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
This will put a damper on the proposed start of construction in November or December of this year, and library officials say absence of city aid could delay the project by three years. These same officials say it will likely take them until 2013 to raise the full $8 million of private funding.
Now, I am all for free education and the furthering of learning and knowledge in society—heck, I even work at two libraries on campus—but I must back Soglin's strong stance on this issue.
Ultimately, it comes down to the state of our economy and saying no when saying no is difficult.
There is no denying the Central Library needs sprucing up. A case of bad weather could cause enough damage to the library to put it in a worse financial positions, and its elevators are in such a state they are staffed by employees at all times.
But as the city faces a $15-18 million budget shortfall in the approaching year, it puts us in a similar situation to someone about to max out their credit card at Bergdorf's and cause a huge scene. Madison should not be that person.
I'm sure comments will insist that loans work in many cases, but I was raised to believe that if you don't have the money, don't spend it.
Madison very clearly does not have the money, it in fact is severely lacking in the financial department, and Soglin is doing what he can to dig the city out of a deep ditch or at least prevent it from sinking further.
Instead of depending on the city's bid, why doesn't the public library take its campaign a little more public in its search for aid? Have a few fundraisers, get the community involved; with summer approaching, the time for outdoor gatherings is here (despite what April may be demonstrating as of late).
The library layout presented on the Central Public Library's main page looks pretty awesome, and I would love to see this project come to fruition. Yet awesomeness does not always mean you must purchase something, or else I would already own an iPad, that dress from H&M I really want and the continent of Australia—lack of funds notwithstanding.
Yes, the library needs the help, but it should be taking more aggressive measures to fundraise for themselves because the city should not be taking a hit at its expense. We literally cannot afford it.
Jaime Brackeen is a sophomore majoring in journalism. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
