After plans for the construction of a new Madison Central Library were abandoned when the city and developer failed to reach an agreement last month, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and policymakers are working to bring new life to the project by pushing for renovation at its current site.
Negotiations between the city and developer Fiore Companies ceased in March following disputes over the projected cost of the construction project.
The failure of negotiations did little to discourage Cieslewicz, who had begun to advocate for a renovation of the library at its current West Mifflin Street site instead of constructing an entirely new building at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Henry Street as had been previously proposed.
On March 25, Cieslewicz gave six reasons to push for the renovation of Central Library versus the construction and furnishing of an entirely new building. The reasons ranged from a schedule projected to be one to two years shorter than the previous plan, a significant decrease in overall costs and general efficiencies in staffing and remodeling.
The speedy decision to carry on with improving the library, albeit in a different form, was supported by at least one individual intimately familiar with the projects many incarnations.
“I feel that we need to move forward quickly, I think its important that we don’t lose the momentum of the process,” Library Board member Ald. Larry Palm, District 15, said.
Palm added the use of the current site would help to promote better operational functionality, improve the facility’s offerings and help save the city much needed funding.
Others involved with the downtown area were not as sympathetic to the decision to leave the negotiations between the city and developers dead.
“We’re hoping that negotiations can begin again between city staff and Fiore,” Downtown Madison Inc. President Susan Schmitz said.
Schmitz said simply because an agreement could not be met under the conditions originally set forth did not prevent another equally beneficial plan from being created through further discussions with the developer.
She added Hovde Properties, another Madison developer, is hoping to contribute to the possibility of constructing a new library and utilizing the site of the current library. One of the main issues in ending last month’s negotiations, she said, was the question of how to handle the vacant West Mifflin site following the construction of a new library at a different site.
Palm said he was skeptical of looking toward reviewing the process once again in the hopes of putting up a new building.
“It shouldn’t come as any surprise that we here in the city have a strong ability for reviewing plans,” Palm said.
He added redevelopment would be in the city’s best interest in that it would not be dependent on negotiations with an outside developer. Improvements to Central Library are much needed, he said, and by pushing for redevelopment those improvements could finally be implemented.
Cieslewicz and Library Board President Tripp Widder are scheduled to meet with the rest of the board today to discuss the options currently on the table.
