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Madison Library Renovation Looks to a February 2017 Referendum

After many months of planning and fundraising, the plan for the proposed renovation and expansion of E.C. Scranton Memorial Library is now moving toward a referendum date. At a Board of Selectman (BOS) meeting on Sept. 12, BOS members and library officials discussed the plan and a tentative timeline leading up to a Feb. 9, 2017 referendum date.

Library Board of Trustees President Beth Coyne gave a presentation to the BOS, highlighting what the library brings to the community and the need for an expansion of the building.

“The library board is eager and ready to bring a referendum for the renovation and expansion of our town library before the voters in early 2017,” she said. “The library has, what we believe to be, a very strong proposal to enhance the current library and bring the E.C. Scranton Memorial library up to the standards that people in Madison deserve.”

The current renovation plan for the library is a scaled-down version of the plan that Madison voters narrowly defeated in a 2008 referendum vote. Current designs for the building would work to preserve the historical architecture while improving the streetscape and expanding the floor plan. The square footage of the building would jump from 17,000 to 37,000 and add a 45-space parking lot.

“This new space more than meets the state’s minimum expectations by 0.5 square foot per capita, ensuring that this is a library that Madison can grow with decades into the future,” said Coyne.

At referendum, the library will have to indicate how much the town will have to bond. The project to renovate the library has been estimated at $14 million; the library originally planned to raise $2 million with the majority of the cost, $12 million, coming from town through bonding. While the total project cost hasn’t changed, Coyne said they can now ask the town for much less thanks to the $4.5 million in donations the library has already secured.

“If a vote took place today, we would be asking the town to bond up to $9 million dollars or 64 percent of the entire project,” she said. “We will continue to fundraise in the months ahead and if we raise more, we will lower that ask of the town.”

Coyne said despite the cost, she hopes the town sees this as a worthy project.

“We know that a budget conscious board will see that $14 million is a large number, and unfortunately construction costs are what they are, but we respectfully suggest that a high quality, value-added property such as the library will only ensure that our downtown continues to be a well sought out place to be for many years,” she said.

Between now and the referendum, the library will go through a comprehensive timeline including appearing before the Board of Finance, the Planning & Zoning Commission, public hearings, and others. For now, First Selectman Tom Banisch said he is pleased to see the proposal move forward to the town.

“We [the BOS] just have to vote to send it to referendum,” he said. “But there is no disagreement on the part of the Board of Selectmen on sending this to referendum.”