APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Those anxious for the downtown Appleton Public Library to reopen will have to wait. But officials involved in the planning believe changes made to the design are a step in the right direction.
“This design is responsive to our community’s feedback, and it is going to serve us really well for the next several generations,” Library Director Colleen Rortvedt said,
Rortvedt is confident the plan will succeed. The city’s park and recreation director Dean Gazza says the most recent bid is close in cost to the $40.4 million budget.
“We are a little bit over in certain areas, but it’s very conceptual in regards to the estimating. To get that refined and get that within budget.”
Bids from September were more than $14 million over budget. The city rejected those bids, putting the renovation on hold. Gazza says making it work requires eliminating and shifting elements from earlier versions.
“A similar, I think, analogy would be if I were building a home and I was told it was over budget, I wouldn’t get rid of the kitchen — I need a kitchen, need the bathroom, need the bedroom,” Gazza said. “But what I might do is make the closet a little bit smaller because it’s not as important as some of the other functions — might double the use of some spaces.”
No action was taken at the council meeting. Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford tells FOX 11 the idea was to keep everyone informed on the progress.
“This is a really important project for the community. The building is important but also is the way we go about this.”
City officials say the project is long overdue.
“The public library building has been a discussion in the city of Appleton going on 14-plus years,” Woodford said. “Our target when we rejected the bids was to go back out in the first quarter of 2023. That’s still our goal.”
Woodford doesn’t currently have an estimate on when the city will bid the project, but he says he wants it to happen as soon as possible.
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