Construction is underway on Madison’s first new public library in a quarter century.
Construction broke ground in May on what will become the Imagination Center, Madison’s first library entirely within a public park and the first library in the Reindahl Park neighborhood.
Tana Elias, director of the Madison Public Library, recently told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that the Imagination Center concept has been in the works for over a decade.
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In doing research on where to build the next city library, Elias said the library system clocked that the Reindahl Park neighborhood and the surrounding far northeast side of the city was a “resource desert,” lacking significant public community spaces.
Elias said residents have been asking for a public library on the far east side since at least 2007. And the Imagination Center aims to not only fill the need for a traditional library — with books and other media available — but to serve as a community space where neighbors can gather.
“It will be a really transformative spot … because we have library functions and park pavilion functions, and then just right outside our doors we have a whole park,” she said. “I think it will really offer a lot of opportunities for Madisonians to meet and gather and take advantage of city resources in new and unique ways.”
The design and architecture of the building is also something that will be unique for a public library, Elias said. Concepts for the building feature large, sprawling windows that showcase views of the park and surrounding area and modern angled roof lines.
Earlier this month, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway used the construction site of the library as a backdrop to announce a proposed $250,000 budget boost for the public library system.
Kate Pinkston is a Madison resident living near Reindahl Park. The neighborhood is sandwiched between state Highways 51 and 151. Pinkston said the neighborhood’s layout essentially makes it an island from the rest of the city.
“It’s been a very long time coming,” Pinkston said of the Imagination Center’s construction. “Just thinking about people who own homes in this area, who pay taxes at the same rate as people in other areas and have not had access to the same resources. Hopefully, this will be a turning point.”
The name “Imagination Center” also came from the city’s intention of using the building as a community space, Elias said. She said they chose the name in the early concepts of the library design as an open-ended term for what services the library could fill.
The Madison Public Library Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to raising funds for the city’s library system, donated $4.5 million to the project. City officials said the total cost for building the new library will be close to $18.6 million.
The Imagination Center’s grand opening is scheduled for September of next year.
