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Appleton, Wisconsin — Julie and Elizabeth Beach are regular visitors to the Appleton Public Library.
What you need to know
- Appleton city officials and planners changed plans for new library
- The change comes after the first bid over the $40.4 million budget was placed earlier this year.
- Buildings are still expected to meet user needs
Since May, they’ve been borrowing and reading books from the temporary location of the former Best Buy store while the permanent building undergoes a major overhaul.
“Our kids check out a lot of books, so once a week it helps pick up packages. If our kids have papers, we pick up the books.” said Julie Beach. “Elizabeth usually has a few books to read while we’re here.”
Rows of books, magazines, computers, and other media fill large, once-empty box stores.
(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)
“It was a perfect fit,” said Julie Beach. “We long for our usual place to come back because it’s closer to us and more comfortable for our everyday things.”
The library’s plans were overhauled this week after last year’s initial bid exceeded the $40.4 million budget.
Librarian Director Colleen Rotvedt said the more significant changes were the removal of two pavilions and a children’s garden from the project.
Several meeting spaces and other features have been redesigned and moved. This has reduced some of the drilling costs associated with the project.
“Not everything has changed, which is great because we don’t want to reinvent everything,” says Rortvedt. “We had a very strong design and didn’t have to change much of the body of the library.”
(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)
She said the new plan will still improve the existing library and provide more parking than the previous series of plans.
Rortvedt said of the overall revised design, “It’s going to be a huge improvement compared to what we’re used to from the old Oneida Street Library.” “Compared to the previous design, it’s really smart and effective that we still have a very forward-looking spatial layout that achieves what we have to accomplish and supports the work we need to do in the future. I think it’s a good method, but a little more modest.”
Julie Beach said she and her family will continue to make trips to the temporary library until the renovated building opens.
“It’s nice to have a permanent place,” she said. “They’ve done a great job making this space work, but it’s really open and noisy. It’s good to be back in place.”
City officials hope to bid on the project this spring.
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