Future library plans move forward

A presentation on potential future plans for the main branch of the Shawano County Library system was given in a joint meeting of the county’s public property committee and library board on Sept. 26.

Various options were laid out for both parties, including single-floor designs and a two-floor design of a renovated or new library. Included in the design plans for improvement were areas for children, teenagers and adults, community rooms, outdoor spaces and meeting rooms, among other items.

Dan Wiitanen, Somerville Architects and Engineers associate/senior project architect, went over the concerns surrounding the existing library.

“There are two entrances at this library that are hard to monitor,” said Wiitanen. “We have a basement that is space, but it is a basement — no natural light. The mechanical systems are another big issue here.”

On the other side, Wiitanen pointed to a handful of positives that are at the existing library.

“The location here is good,” said Wiitanen. “The services that are provided here are good. The materials that we have here, too, are good.”

When talking about vision and goals for the library, Wiitanen looked at the community as the first point.

“Do we want to make it a destination for the community?” said Wiitanen. “Do we want it to be a secondary area for education, both adults and children?”

Wiitanen explained that after meetings with representatives of both boards and other library staff, a list of words or phrases were selected for what was desired in either a renovated or new library. The number one word or phrase when ranked was “natural light.” Wiitanen also walked through many images of what various rooms and areas could look like.

“Flexible spaces was a huge thing — making space be able to do more than one thing,” said Wiitanen.

Using all of the information of the desires and needs for the library, Wiitanen went over how a renovation would look in comparison to a new library.

“We are looking an existing building that truly does need to be gutted,” said Wiitanen, noting the congested areas and mechanical problems. “There would need to be some significant foundation work done on this building if you are going to stay and keep this building.”

Wiitanen then showed a handful a different schematic block diagrams to illustrate an idea of what the library could look like if renovated or rebuilt. The square footage for a renovation of the existing library was roughly estimated to be 36,142 square feet. A new one story building was roughly estimated to be 32,752 square feet and a new two story building was roughly estimated to be 36,202 square feet.

“We don’t think that the new one story would be adequate,” said Wiitanen.

In terms of cost, Wiitanen said to remodel the existing library, the price could be upwards of $250 per square foot. He added that to put an addition on and renovate the building, it could costs as high as $12.5 million.

“We do have to take in to account that it would be more expensive to remodel this than a normal building, because we are basically taking all of the mechanical systems out — it would be all replaced,” said Wiitanen. “We do have a bit of foundation work too to correct.”

For a new two-story building, Wiitanen said they are looking at least $15.2 million.

“It is not inexpensive, but if you look at the difference between the two, it may not be as far apart as you think, if you are going to remodel,” said Wiitanen.

Administrative Coordinator James Davel said that it may be very difficult to build a new structure at the current location.

“I think this is going to be very difficult to stay at this location, given the fact that there are some things that you want in the building,” said Davel. “They are so close in numbers — a lot of times when you do the renovation it all sounds good, but you are trying to fix foundational problems, which I would have a big concern with.”

Building Maintenance Manager Steve Dreher said that the only way to be sure on the foundation is to excavate it.

“When you are doing a renovation like that, you never know what you are going to find and if it is a surprise, it is too late to do anything with it,” said Dreher.

In terms of raising funds or finding donors for the project, Library Director Kristie Hauer said that finding donors is an avenue that the can be looked into.

“I think that we could be successful there somewhat — I don’t know about the whole cost of a project,” said Hauer. “One thing that we know about libraries is that even if people are not the users of a library, they tend to have good feelings and find them as important in a community.”

Dreher added that if he had a vote, he would choose to build a new building, as opposed to renovating the existing building. Both parties indicated to agree, as a vast majority of members from both boards raised their hands when Supervisor Tom Kautza asked who would be in favor of starting new.

Before deciding anything else for the building, Davel suggested that they find a site for the new building. Both committees agreed and voted to allow Davel to talk to the city of Shawano about any open space for a new library.

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com