Madison Public Library Board
Monday, June 16, 6:30 p.m.
201 W. Mifflin St., Room 202
Madison's downtown library is a pit. The building has a permanent musty smell and its design evokes a bomb shelter, with thick walls and lots of hard surfaces. A library should be warm and welcoming, not cold and industrial.
The city has wanted to upgrade its central library for a while now, but the stars may finally be aligning. Developer Terence Wall has proposed a $45 million makeover of the site, which would feature a nine-story building of glass and stone, with mixed retail and office space. The new library, which would cost $20 million, would occupy three stories.
Madison has so far pledged only $11 million toward the project, which means the library would have to fundraise for the rest.
Tonight you can pack into the central library's tiny community room and share your thoughts on what a new library should include and who should pay for it.
Common Council
Tuesday, June 17, 6:30 p.m.
Room 201 of the City-County Building
The fight over whether to allow Madison Metro buses to be wrapped in advertising continues. The city's Board of Estimates recently voted to allow unlimited partial ad wraps -- but not full wraps. But some alders support the fully wrapped buses, noting the ads bring in much-needed revenue for Metro.
The council will also consider a number of liquor licenses, particularly for convenience stores, and Common Wealth Development's plans to build an arts incubator on the site of the old Garver Feed Mill. Ald. Tim Bruer will chair the meeting, as Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is on vacation in Europe.
Urban Design Commission
Wednesday, June 18, 4:30 p.m.
Room LL-110 of the Madison Municipal Building
The Community Development Authority's consultants give a presentation on plans for the redeveloped Villager Mall on South Park Street.
Dane County Board
Thursday, June 19, 7 p.m.
Room 201 of the City-County Building
The board hears a "State of the Waters" presentation by Sue Jones of the Lakes and Watershed Commission. And it considers a semi-controversial proposal to exempt low-income prisoners from fees for electronic monitoring. Former Sup. Ashok Kumar is pushing for the ordinance, accusing County Board liberals of holding a closed-door meeting to kill it. Sup. Brett Hulsey argues that the ordinance is unnecessary, because the county already exempts some inmates from the fees.
