The two architects competing to reconstruct the Madison Downtown Public Library presented their project proposals to the Downtown Coordinating Committee Thursday night.
Sean Robbins, vice president of development at T. Wall Properties, said the T. Wall proposal would be built on the same site the library is currently located on, adding the library structure will serve as a downtown hub and will be a good way to bring people to the area.
“We’re thinking about the library you want there to be in the future,” Robbins said. “Libraries stand alone, they’re a monolithic structure. [We want] an integrated, urban environment where there are people coming and going.”
According to Robbins, the library would house a strip of retail stores and a private apartment complex.
From a staffing and visibility standpoint, the proposed rectangular site will reduce the cost of staffing, according to Robbins. The library, on three floors in a spacious area, will allow for fewer librarians and circulation desks.
Since the T. Wall proposal includes knocking down the current building, a temporary location for the library would be needed. Robbins said he is unable to disclose the probable library locales but plans for potential locations are in the works.
However, the Fiore-Irgens project proposes to move the library to the corner of West Washington Avenue and Henry Street, a higher traffic area of the city.
Steve Holzhauer, principle architect, said the proposed library would thrive more on West Washington Avenue, claiming more than 20,000 cars pass through the avenue each day.
Holzhauer added the library would be in a more visible area since there are more police officers and passersby.
Fairchild and Mifflin streets, the current location, only see approximately 9,000 cars each day, which encourages less security, Holzhauer said.
Bill Kunkler, executive vice president of Fiore Companies, said his library proposal is a freestanding library that fills both an economic and social role.
The Fiore-Irgens proposal is a public-private venture. The new library will have retail businesses around the structure, as well as 250 to 700 hotel rooms, according to Kunkler. There will also be 400 parking stalls.
The Downtown Coordinating Committee’s favored proposal is in part swayed by the amount of money that can be raised by the Madison Library Foundation, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4 said. The city cannot afford to rebuild the library without some private contributions from community members.
Verveer added members of the Central Library Disposal Surplus Property Criteria and Selection Committee would likely endorse a construction proposal at their meeting on March 2, which will then be presented in front of the City Council.
