Foundation details plans for new library

The Hudson Area Library Foundation is holding a public information session on the proposed Lakefront Library plan from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, March 24, in the second-floor Community Room of the Hudson Municipal Building, 911 Fourth St.

Friends of the Library will staff a booth Sunday, March 30, at the Spring Showcase at the Hudson Sports and Civic Center, 1820 Hanley Road, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and the foundation will make a presentation Thursday, March 20, at the Hudson Rotary meeting.

The foundation has been busy discussing the benefits of a proposed plan to relocate the Hudson Area Joint Library to the Nuclear Management Co. building at 700 First St.

A non-binding, advisory referendum question on the April 1 ballot will assess opinions on the proposal of residents in the four municipalities — including the village of North Hudson, town of Hudson, town of St. Joseph and city of Hudson — that operate the Hudson Area Joint Library.

Foundation members will present information related to cost estimates and private fund-raising efforts for the proposed plan and other proposals that have been explored including remodeling and building new. Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Hudson Library, and library staff, board of trustees and administration will also be on hand to answer questions related to library usage, space needs and other issues.

Other meetings

On March 30, the Friends of the Hudson Library, a volunteer group that funds and promotes library programs, will have an information booth at the Spring Showcase.

In recent weeks the foundation has presented information at the library and to the Hudson Chamber of Commerce, and will present March 20 at the Hudson Rotary, according to Jeff Zais, board member and treasurer of the Library Foundation.

“People are very excited about the proposal and have a lot of questions,” said Zais. “One of the most frequent questions is about parking. The NMC facility has a 45-car lot, which is a few more spaces than in the ramp at the newly renovated Stillwater library. There is parking along First Street and a city lot with 100 spaces across the street in Lakefront Park, and there’s adequate walking and biking trails along First Street too.”

Other questions, Zais says, run from remodeling the existing facility to costs involved in building a new facility on another site. “We’ve had a team of architects, engineers, financiers, library development professionals and fund-raising consultants explore many options for several years now, and we feel the Lakefront Library plan is best among any options at this point. Essentially, this proposal is 25 percent less than building new at undeveloped land, and remodeling the current location wouldn’t come close to meeting space needs. ”

On March 15, some 30 interested people accompanied foundation board members on an impromptu tour of the NMC facility. “We hope the sellers might consider an open house for the general public in the facility later this summer,” says Zais.

Overlooking the lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and Hudson’s Lakefront Park, the NMC building was designed originally for Erickson Diversified headquarters and includes several sustainable building features.

Last week a foundation representative spoke to members of the local St. Croix Count Extension Homemakers/ Association for Home and Community Education, and the foundation is encouraging interested community groups to contact the foundation via the Web site, www.lakefrontlibrary. org, to request a presentation to their groups.

Members of the Friends group, who staff the used bookstore in the library’s lobby, are available to answer questions about the proposed plan as well, and informational brochures produced by the foundation are available at the library.

The Hudson Area Joint Library is composed of the village of North Hudson, city of Hudson, town of Hudson, and town of St. Joseph. While the town of Troy is not a municipal partner in the joint library, a similar question about an additional capital investment of $6 per 100,000 of valued property for the proposal will appear on its April 1 ballot because Troy residents pay a portion of their property tax toward a pool that all libraries in St. Croix County use.

Founded in 1989, the Hudson Area Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable foundation, chartered to raise funds for capital improvements for the Hudson Area Joint Library. The foundation works closely with the library Board of Trustees, which oversees library operations, and the Friends of the Hudson Library, which funds and promotes library programs. Since 2005 the foundation has taken the lead in exploring site solutions to meet the increasing demand for library services.

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