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City reading over library plans

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Also by Cara Harshman:

City reading over library plans (May 1, 2008)
Officials provide tips for block party (April 30, 2008)
Mifflin neighbors to meet tonight (April 29, 2008)
First Microsoft, now Google comes to Madison (April 29, 2008)
Drunken driver in custody after crashing car into UW building (April 28, 2008)

by Cara Harshman

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Members of the Madison Library Board will consider a Madison developer’s proposal today to replace the Madison Public Library on the 200 block of Mifflin Street with a new building.

In a statement Wednesday, T. Wall Properties said its proposed nine-story building will contain a public library on three floors, office space on five, retail shops on one floor and underground parking.

The building, currently in the conceptual design stage, would have a facade of glass and stone to complement the Overture Center located across the street, said Tripp Widder, president of the library board.

“It’s a very striking design,” Widder said. “Terrance [Wall, President and CEO of T. Wall Properties] wants to make it compatible with the Overture Center, so it doesn’t totally mimic Overture but is consistent with the use of glass on that side of the facility.”

The proposal includes a green roof patio area and “numerous green building components,” the statement said.

George Twigg, spokesperson for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said T. Wall Properties wants to purchase and demolish the existing library and build a new library, but the process is not that simple. Because the library is public land, the city must go through a “competitive process” to ensure every developer interested has a chance to turn in a development proposal, or a request for proposal.

All proposals would be evaluated by the city to select the most advantageous one for the city and then go through various city committees and the City Council.

According to Widder, T. Wall Properties is the only developer interested in the library so far.

The public library, currently at 201 W. Mifflin St., has been in existence for 45 years, Widder said.

“It is very much in need of total rebuilding or total renovation,” Widder said. “We have been looking for ways to rebuild or reconstruct it, but the problem has been coming up with the money to do it because it’s a big ticket item.”

He said the library property would sell for between $3 and $5 million.

T. Wall Property’s proposed building would be funded by public and private donations, Twigg said. Selling the library land would help the city pay for a portion of its funding.

Widder said Cieslewicz would allocate between $10 and $12 million of the 2010 budget to fund the new library/office/retail building.

According to Widder, the new building does not have a price tag yet, but the developer is seeking public donations, private donations and a “major private donor that would close the gap further.”

“It is something the mayor thinks is worth looking into,” Twigg said, referring to the developer’s construction proposal.

The developer hopes the new building can open by fall 2010, the statement said, but Widder indicated the public process could take a while.

“I’m not sure we can meet Terrance’s timetable, that’s one of my concerns: The public processes move a little slower than that,” Widder said.

The library board will discuss T. Wall Property’s proposal this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in room 201 of the Madison Public Library at an open meeting.

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