Continuing Discussions of Brown County Public Library's Maintenance Upgrades

Brown County Library Central Branch in Green Bay in need of $21M renovations, repairs.  (Green Bay Press-Gazette, 9/19/2011)

Excerpt:    The library, at 515 Pine St. on the city's east side, was state-of-the-art when it opened in the early 1970s.

While the structure remains sound, maintenance spending hasn't kept up with needs. Some of the original equipment has never been updated or replaced, officials said, asbestos would need to be removed, and the technological demands of 2011 are taxing cooling and electrical systems.

At times, the building's heating and cooling systems run full blast at the same time.

"The windows leak like a sieve, so we're spending a lot more on energy than we should," said Kathy Pletcher, vice president of the Brown County Library Board. "We have a lot of (access-to-the-disabled) issues, health and safety issues."

County leaders say they support the idea of maintaining the library, but struggle with the price tag. And Pletcher acknowledged that the library board can't commit to making up the difference.

Related posts:
Committee to consider 5-step, $14 million upgrade to address library code violations. (2/19/2011)
Speaking up for the Brown County library renovation. (12/5/2010)
Aging library needs to address code violation.  (11/26/2010)
$600,000 for code compliance is cut.  (11/3/2010)