Cedar Rapids Public Library to hold another open house on westside library project

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids Public Library will hold another open house so residents can give input on the new permanent west-side library project.

Residents can visit the Community Room at the Ladd Library, 3750 Williams Blvd. SW, from 4 to 6 p.m. May 1 for an update on the project. At that time, there are likely to be schematic drawings available, library board members said in a meeting last week.

“Moving this one to the evening offers more accessibility to people who are working, and so we want to make sure as we go through these different iterations of public meetings, we will probably shift the time a few times just so that we're catching as many people as we can,” said library Executive Director Dara Schmidt.

The site of the new library — 27 acres at the corner of 20th Avenue and Wiley Boulevard SW — is planned to interplay with housing, open space and other amenities including an opportunity center offering a wide variety of social services and a food pantry. Once complete, the new library branch would replace the Ladd Library, a leased space that opened in 2013 and was established through a grant from the Hall-Perrine Foundation.

The library is looking at an “active service model” for this library where people don’t fear approaching the service desk with questions, Schmidt said.

The library board has noted that 28 percent of households in southwest Cedar Rapids sit below the poverty line, indicating that this quadrant of the community is in need of information, experiences and services that this new facility would provide.

The library’s goal is to raise $25 million for the project, but officials are still in the quiet phase of the capital campaign — privately securing financial support before launching the campaign to the broader community.

Library board member Jade Hart, who heads the west-side library project committee, said the facility is seeking possibly gold or platinum LEED certification, meaning the building is designed and built in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way. Platinum would be the highest score.

The Cedar Rapids City Council has allocated $6 million toward the library project. The Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation already has committed $2 million to the new facility, Community Development Director Jennifer Pratt previously said. The Linn County Board of Supervisors allocated $4 million of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

To fill in the remaining gap, the library is looking to secure $3 million through other state and federal resources. A community investment campaign is seeking to raise $10 million.

The design, development and fundraising campaign began last fall and will wrap up in 2024. A groundbreaking is slated for summer 2024, with a summer or fall 2026 opening.

Hart said the facility is planned to have electric vehicle charging stations and bike storage. The city council also awarded another $100,000 to go toward the design of a park coinciding with the new library, adding open green space to a part of town that lacks enough of it.

Exact cost estimates are not yet available, but OPN Architects and cost estimators are working to nail down a figure.

“We’re at a very critical, high-impact time,” Schmidt said.

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