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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids breaks ground on new Westside Library and park
A future ‘cornerstone in our community’ will expand services offered through the Cedar Rapids Public Library on the west side of town
Oct. 18, 2024 2:13 pm, Updated: Jun. 6, 2025 11:42 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Community leaders broke ground Friday morning on the new Westside Library, celebrating the ways it will promote learning, literacy and exploration for future generations.
The library, which will be built between Edgewood Road and 20th Avenue SW, behind the Aldi Grocery store in Cedar Rapids, also will feature a city park built by the Cedar Rapids Park and Recreation Department. It is anticipated to open in late fall 2026.
Monica Challenger, president of the Cedar Rapids Public Library board of trustees, said the library will be a “cornerstone in our community.”
“Libraries are gateways to adventures where every book opens a new world,” Challenger said to a crowd ahead of the groundbreaking. “This new branch will bring those worlds closer to enrich the lives of our west side community. It will be a beacon of knowledge, creativity and resources where imaginations soar and adventures come to life.”
The library will replace the Ladd Library at 3750 Williams Blvd. SW, Cedar Rapids, which is a leased space that opened in 2013.
The land will include a new road, which will be named Sandberg Lane in honor of the late Nadine E. Sandberg, whose estate gift of nearly $2 million to the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation in 2020 was used to purchase the property on which the new library is being built.
The library project will cost less than $25 million. The City of Cedar Rapids has allocated $6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds and the Linn County Board of Supervisors has allocated $4 million in ARPA funds.
Additional funds have come in from private and corporate gifts and grants to the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation’s ongoing Inspiring Big Dreams campaign, which seeks to raise $10 million.
Since the Ladd Library opened, there has been an “astonishing utilization of services,” said Dara Schmidt, director of the Cedar Rapids Public Library.
More than 2.7 million items have been checked out, and more than 2 million people have visited, which is over 100,000 people a year since 2013, Schmidt said. About 76,000 people have used the single meeting room available at the Ladd Library and almost 50,000 people have attended educational programs.
“This project is so much bigger than any of us individually. It is something that will leave a legacy for our community,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said one of the happiest moments of her career was when she brought the idea of creating a park surrounding a new public library on the west side to Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz, and he said “sure,” Schmidt said.
Pomeranz “pledged” the park built around the library will be something the community is “extremely proud of.” The new library and park will have a “transformational” impact on the west side of Cedar Rapids, he said.
“It will promote learning, exploration and discovery,” Pomeranz said.
Some of the amenities planned for the park include multiuse sport courts, a rentable pavilion, playground, and water features rooted in the natural landscape. Plans also call for dedicated seating for outdoor reading, as well as community gardens.
Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers asked those in attendance at the ground breaking to “time travel back to the libraries of our childhood.”
“When I got my library card for the first time, it was my first sense of responsibility. It also meant that I needed a wallet, preferably with Velcro,” Rogers said. “I want to bring it back to the present and think about what this building will mean for the future of Cedar Rapids. Whether they’re born here, whether they come here, the different languages they speak, they will have a 21st century, modern, aesthetically gorgeous building designed by OPN (Architects) that connects people with people, and people to knowledge and information and to their environment.”
Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said the library was a “glimmer of an idea” that is finally coming true.
She thanked city, county and library leaders and staff over the years who have made the library a reality.
“As we break ground on this project today, we’re not just building a library. We are building a welcoming space … It is our goal that it will exemplify our inclusivity, our community building and our vision for the future here by creating unique spaces where all can come together to learn, to have fun and to connect with friends and neighbors,” O’Donnell said.
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