The renovated Appleton Public Library is seen Feb. 11, 2025, four days before its grand reopening. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Eighteen months after renovations at the Appleton Public Library got underway, a grand re-opening is planned for this weekend.
The stories behind renovations could easily fill novels.
“Fifteen years of actual studies and work, iterations that never came to be. And in the end, this iteration is I think is the absolute best for the community,” said library director Colleen Rortvedt.
Even though they can’t get inside, yet, some community members thinks so too.
According to Appleton resident Jerry Zabronsky, “I’ve been following the saga about different plans, different locations and I was a strong opponent of moving it off this site because I think this site is a really important anchor for downtown Appleton.”
And following $40.4 million in renovations, the library director believes this is a space where the community will come to gather.
“We’re proud of having transformed a space that really aesthetically was a great sentiment for its time and now we need a new sentiment for the future,” Rortvedt said.
The new library, while still full of books, is about so much more.
A story room, sensory room and more interactive activities make it a more appealing place to visit.
Community workspaces and creation studios will help to attract teens and young professionals to the library to work and play.
An open concept, large windows and skylights on every floor allow for more natural light than ever been.
And while the addition of a community meeting room that can accommodate more than 300 people led to the 7,000 square feet of new space, simple renovations to the existing structure just opened the building up.
“What we added was a lot of volume,” Rortvedt said. “You see way higher ceiling heights. We gained three and a half to four feet of ceiling height on every level from removing the dropped ceiling. The skylights bring light in, add, again, that sense of space.”
The grand reopening is on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 9 a.m. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin at 11 a.m.
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