By Al Stanek
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
A fundraising effort to renovate and expand the City of Whitewater’s Irvin L. Young Memorial Library is scheduled to begin next year after obtaining a tentative commitment of a major future financial commitment from the Common Council.
The campaign to raise at least $1 million of private contributions to match the roughly $1 million of existing library liquid assets comes after an expression of a future potential commitment of $3 million of City of Whitewater funds to the project. Actual commitment of City dollars would require future Common Council approval after a successful private fundraising effort. Project supporters told the Common Council that an indication of City financial support is essential to successful fundraising.
Efforts to modernize and expand the structure originally built in 1991 have been considered multiple times in the past. The latest effort comes after the Comon Council debated the plan at both its August 17 and November 16 meetings. Council member Jim Allen was the sole vote against making the tentative commitment. He described the projected cost of the remodeling component of the project as “outlandish.”
Library Director Stacey Lunsford told council members that the 30-year old structure is in need of lighting and technology improvements and remodeling to meet the needs of a 21st century public library. She emphasized a need for additional flexible meeting space, a lobby where conversation might take place separated from traditional library quiet zones, improved public computer access, a larger makerspace and facilities to draw more teenagers and families with young children to the library.
The city portion of the proposed $5 million project would require future borrowing. City Finance and Administrative Services Director Steve Hatton presented a multiyear financial projection that indicated that the closing of existing Tax Incremental Finance Districts (TIDS) will add a significant amount of additional taxable property value beginning in 2023. Hatton’s presentation indicated that the increased tax revenue could allow for additional city borrowing while still staying within the “fairly conservative” Common Council adopted goal of not exceeding 70% of the City’s state imposed borrowing limit.
Library Board Member and former Common Council member Jim Winship advised that the fundraising effort would need to be successful by the end of next year for the proposed project to stay on schedule.
