Fundraising efforts move ahead after Glendale signs on to North Shore library project
Fundraising for the new North Shore library is moving ahead after Glendale officials narrowly approved the agreement Monday after months of hesitation over the cost and location of the new project.
Glendale joins Bayside, River Hills and Fox Point in raising the money for the new library at the corner of Brown Deer and Port Washington roads in Bayside.
Bayside, River Hills and Fox Point all signed the agreement in December. But Glendale officials initially declined to enter the agreement over disagreement about how funding was split among the four communities. Glendale held out to see the results of the fundraising effort and asked to extend the deadline to join the project to June.
"We're far better when we partner with the other communities and when we partner with a North Shore library where there is a significant fundraising base and an excitement about this project, as opposed to saying we're going to go at it alone and cross our fingers, pray to the gods to vote yes on two referendums in order to have a library," said Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy at Monday's meeting.
Glendale Common Council voted 3-2 in support of the proposal, making Glendale the largest of the four communities now involved in the project. Aldermen James Daugherty and John Gelhard voted against the proposal.
Before the vote there was hesitation from some council members about the cost and location of the new library. "I'm so sick of us, as a community, having to take the brunt of other costs from the other communities and expecting it because our population is a little bigger," said Ald. Tomika Vukovic, who ultimately voted for the project.
Bayside Development Partners II LLC previously pledged to fund the North Shore Library's about 24,000-square-foot core space. Their funding is about half of the North Shore Library's initial projected fundraising goal, according to a news release.
The remainder of the fundraising efforts will be used to furnish and equip the interior of the new library. Bayside Village President Eido Walny said that, with Glendale signing on to the project, he expects more donors will be open to supporting the project.
"Glendale's lack of commitment up until this point has been an issue. Now that that issue has gone away, we can go full steam ahead on fundraising," said Walny.
Conceptual renderings for the new mixed-use building that will be the future home of the new library were submitted to the village of Bayside, and are expected to be reviewed at the July 11 Architectural Review Committee meeting at 6 p.m.
Contact Alex Groth at agroth@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @grothalexandria.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Glendale joins North Shore Library with Bayside, River Hills, Fox Point
