Viroqua Residents Want to Keep Their Library Downtown

Viroqua citizens feel strongly about locating new library downtown.   (Vernon County Broadcaster, 4/20/2011)

Excerpt:   The consensus from 50 community members attending a public meeting on the future site of a new library in Viroqua showed citizens are interested in keeping the library downtown.

PSA Dewberry, the architectural firm hired by the McIntosh Memorial Library Board to develop a new library plan for the city, met with an engaged group of residents at Western Technical College in Viroqua, last Thursday.

Terry Martin and Rick McCarthy of PSA Dewberry didn't add any opinions about what the library's future plans should be, instead they asked where community members thought the library should be built.

Martin said PSA Dewberry - at the direction of the library board following its space needs study - was looking at a library of about 30,000 square feet that cost between $5-$8 million. He said it would be paid for by a combination of public and private sources that have yet to be determined.

[snip]

Martin gave a PowerPoint presentation on five possible library sites in Viroqua including land the library owns on the south side of the city, which the Viroqua Area School District rents for its bus garage facility. Another site was the old outdoor pool, Eagles Club and the city owned parking lot - all on South Rock Avenue (this site was referred to as site "B"). A third site was land owned by Vernon Memorial Healthcare where Nuzum's Lumber used to be along South Rock Avenue (this site was referred to as site "C"). A fourth site included the former Gundersen Viroqua Clinic site on the Dahl Building block. And Martin also discussed options for building a new library on its existing site north of the Post Office.

Related articles:  
Library project gets aid from city.  (6/7/2010)
New library cost estimate:  $5.7 million.   (5/20/2010)
Library building project update.  (3/15/2010)
Viroqua's McIntosh Memorial Library Space Needs Study Update.  (1/16/2010) 
Viroqua's McIntosh Memorial Library Space Needs Task Force.  (12/28/2009)