OUR TOWNS: Milaca Library

By Greg Lerud, Milaca City Manager

The library project was one of those projects where the stars aligned—although not right away...

The effort to construct a new library started in 1997 when a needs study was completed. At that time the library occupied a WPA (Works Projects Administration) building, which was very charming but hardly large enough to house a library. The square footage of that building was just over 1,200. In 2002 a bond referendum was passed by a 70 percent to 30 percent margin for the construction of a new library.

In the same year, there was a fire in the Milaca city hall that severely damaged city offices. That resulted in the new city hall building being constructed and occupied in 2003. At the time, the fire hall was where the library is now, and we had developed plans to put the library between the city hall and the fire department. It would have been a very tight squeeze, and would have limited the ability to expand the library, should that ever be needed

Just prior to construction, the city, along with the other cities and townships the fire department serves, acted on an opportunity to purchase the East Central Energy service center and relocate the fire hall. As a result, the city doubled the size of the fire department and relocated it in a much better location. For the library, it allowed us to remove the fire department building and move the library to its present site. We now have room for expansion of all of our facilities

The Friends of the Library spearheaded a fundraising effort that raised about half the cost of the new building. The architectural firm Vedder Johnson was hired, and they did an outstanding job in both tying the library in appearance to the city hall, but also creating many features—like the original murals—that make the library unique.