The official start to the $29.5 million construction project on the site of Madison’s Central Library kicked off Tuesday morning with a ceremonial groundbreaking.

In reality, construction has been proceeding for several months now. According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, an environmental remediation company has come in to remove hazardous material including the floor, carpet, tiles, flooring and items that may contain asbestos.

He added the project is scheduled to be finish in a year and a half, and he foresees no delays in the construction.

“During the construction there is a temporary library that is in business at 126 S. Hamilton Street, a few blocks from the current Central Library,” Verveer said.

The project will essentially be a complete rebuild of the Central Library. The existing building will be taken down, leaving only the floor plates, columns and the outside skin of the building. The interior and systems will be removed, as well.

A new story will also be built.

“They are building a third floor, so there will be a whole new build-out on top, and the skin itself will have all sorts of new windows poked through it, so it will really kind of be unrecognizable,” Madison Public Library Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Collins said. “In terms of whether the existing materials are being reused it will look very, very different.”

The whole project cost is estimated to be $29.5 million, which includes architectural fees as well as the current construction costs. Of that money, $21 million will come from Madison’s city budget and $8.5 million will be donated from private fundraising sources.

Cost issues have been the main concern surrounding the library’s renovations. Construction was delayed because of funding concerns until major problems like heating, air conditioning and failure of the roof became “real” issues.

Collins said the new Central Library will house several modern innovations.

“It needs to be a 21st century library. We have to recognize all the amenities that are part of a modern library, and the new library will have those,” Collins said. “We’re going from 33 computers to over 100 computers on site, and all of the cable and electrical wires will be an under-floor system. It’s going to be a much more efficient library for the way libraries function now and will likely function in the future.”