Madison city officials and community organizations broke ground at The Villager Friday, initiating two development projects costing $4.9 million, including renovation of the existing mall and the addition of another building on Madison’s south side.
“The Villager will provide an important array of health and education services under one roof,” Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said. “After much hard work and collaboration, today marks a victory for the south side and for the city as a whole.”
This is one of the steps the city is taking to reduce unemployment rates in Dane County which, as of February, stands at 5.5 percent, up 0.6 percent since January.
The community organizations scheduled to operate in the new building said they hope to combat rising unemployment rates and improve the quality of life for South Madison residents.
The first project involves the construction of the 28,000-square-foot Urban League Center for Economic Development Workforce Training, designed to provide education and job training to area residents.
Scott Gray, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison, discussed his “three prong plan” to be implemented at the new building. The plan emphasizes workforce development, increasing home ownership for residents in the area and ensuring area youth are prepared for college and able to take best possible advantage of career opportunities.
The second project involves the renovation of the existing Villager Mall. The renovated building will house the new South Madison Branch Library and a Planned Parenthood center for reproductive health care, among other community organizations.
According to Trip Widder, president of the Madison Public Library Board, visits to the existing library are up 11.4 percent over the past year and checkouts are up 8.2 percent. He said he believes the new library’s increased capacity at 12,000 square feet — up 8,800 square feet from the previous building — will help the Urban League in its mission to provide better educational resources to area residents.
Deborah Hobbins, regional vice president of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said the buildings are very important for the residents of Madison.
“Locating an urban league, a library and Planned Parenthood under one roof is truly a visionary project,” Hobbins said. “It will give people a place to learn, a place to train and a place to receive reproductive health care. All of these efforts really affect a family’s future well-being and economic stability.”
Chuck Taylor, member of the Urban League of Greater Madison, commented on the need for economic development in the black community, saying it is “one of the greatest challenges facing Madisonians.” He said he believed these new buildings will open doors for blacks and low-income Madisonians.
“This will be more than a building, it will be a place where dreams come true,” Taylor said. “It offers the possibility that blacks and low income Madisonians will share in the prosperity of this great city and become genuine stakeholders in Madison’s future.”
