Lakefront Library plans highlighted at presentations

Residents can also talk to the architects from BKV on plans to convert the building into a library.

Information sessions

The foundation and architects will present two information sessions on the project, followed by a question-and-answer session and refreshments:

Cindy McCleary of Boarman Kroos Vogel Group, an architectural, interior design, landscape architecture, engineering and construction firm with offices in Minneapolis and Chicago, will attend the events to discuss the project design and plans. Information on BKV Group’s work on the library can be found at www.bkvgroup.com/portfolio.cfm/Government/Library/Lakefront_Library.

At the Oct. 21 and 27 sessions, foundation members will show a slide presentation and answer questions related to increases in library usage, space needs, municipal funding, and the plan to raise half of the project cost through a capital campaign.

In summer 2008, the foundation contracted Currie, Ferner, Scarpetta & DeVries, a Minneapolis-based firm that provides counsel for private fund-raising, to conduct a fund-raising feasibility study. The firm found “clear evidence” of adequate private support from area foundations and individuals.

Foundation members also will discuss the results of a recent economic impact study of libraries in Wisconsin, conducted by NorthStar Economics of Madison and released in May 2008. The study, available online at www.northstareconomics.com/LibraryImpactStudyFINAL.pdf, shows that for every $1 of public investment in Wisconsin communities, some $4.06 is returned to the community in related spending.

In an advisory referendum measuring public opinion in April 2008, some 70 percent of voters in the four municipalities served by the joint library — the city of Hudson, village of North Hudson, towns of Hudson and St. Joseph — gave their approval to a proposed plan to relocate the Hudson Area Joint Library at 911 Fourth St. to the former NMC building.

The foundation’s Web site at www.lakefrontlibrary.org has detailed information about the Nov. 4 referendum, which asks voters to authorize funding for approximately $5 million of the estimated $10.5 million project cost.

The project will not start if any of the referendum questions in the four partner municipalities fails to pass. According to agreements between the municipalities and the foundation, the municipalities will not be obligated to begin funding their portion of the project until the Hudson Area Library Foundation has contributions and commitments in hand.

Founded in 1989, the Hudson Area Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable foundation, chartered to raise funds for capital improvements for the Hudson Area Joint Library. It has made several presentations this fall to community groups, including Hudson Rotary Club, parent organizations and others.

The foundation works closely with the Library Board of Trustees, which oversees library operations, and the Friends of the Hudson Library, which promotes and funds library programs through used book sales. Since 2005 the foundation has taken the lead in exploring site solutions to meet the increasing demand for library services.

To request a presentation to a group about the project, contact Jeff Zais of the foundation, at (715) 386-2055. Yard signs, car clings and buttons are available for distribution and may be requested through the foundation’s Web site at www.lakefrontlibrary.org.

Tags: news, hudson, library, nmc_building, openhouse