With the Village Board's recent decision to designate the "West side"/Hwy 39 site as the building location for a new library, a revised site design is underway. See the press release below for an explanation of the Village Board's decision, and check back here for updates on the project.
New Glarus Village Board Accepts Recommendation of Ad Hoc Facilities Committee
by Drake Daily, Village of New Glarus Administrator
New Glarus, WI – On May 21, 2019 the New Glarus Village Board discussed the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee regarding the Public Library and Village Hall. The recommendation comes after reviewing a space needs analysis from Dimension IV of Madison.
Dimension IV’s analysis concluded nearly every mechanical feature within Village Hall is past its useful life and included three options to meet the space needs of the Village:
- Complete renovation of Village Hall to accommodate administration, the police department and a larger public library ($8.9 million)
- Complete renovation of Village Hall to include administration and the police department while relocating the Public Library to another location ($8.4 million)
- Complete renovation of Village Hall to include the Public Library and relocating administration and the police department to another location ($9.5 million)
Due to the Village’s debt capacity limits, the Village would be unable to fully fund any of the options presented within a given year. Realizing this, the Committee recommended finalizing the west side site as the future location for the new Public Library, developing a 5 year plan to complete improvements to Village Hall, instructing the police department to complete a renovation with previously budgeted funds and instructing administration to request the DOT reduce the speed limits by the proposed library site and install pedestrian-crossing infrastructure.
After reviewing the space needs analysis and the Committee’s recommendation, the Village Board approved the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee. This action prioritizes the construction of a new Library at the West side site while improvements to administration and PD offices will be completed as needed over a longer period of time.