The Library addition/renovation project took another step forward with the ground-breaking ceremony that was held on Tuesday, July 8th, at 4:00 p.m. Past and present library board members, the mayor, city council members, along with many others were on hand to take part in the ceremony.
Library Board President Tom Earley started the ceremony by saying, “We are here to celebrate a significant event to the history of the Dell Rapids Carnegie Public Library.”
“This thing has been a long time coming. I think as long as I’ve been mayor, we’ve been working on this project. This is going to be a fantastic addition to the community. Want to thank all the people that donated money to this cause,” said Mayor Scott Fiegen.
The Dell Rapids City Council recently voted to provide $360,000 of municipal money to help the library close a gap in funding of the project. The project is going to add about a 2,000-squre foot addition to the library along with restoration to the current building.
“All along our main priority has been the renovation of the existing Dell Rapids Carnegie Public Library, making the library ADA accessible to all customers and that will be achieved with the addition of the elevator. We have also wanted to increase the square footage of the library,” said Earley during the ceremony.
Members of the library board of trustees, Mayor Fiegen, Helen Aspaas, and current Library Director Brittany Moeller dug the first hole for the ground-breaking ceremony. Gil Haugan Construction, Inc. began work on the $1.1 million project on Wednesday, July 9th.
The library will be closed Monday, July 14th through Sunday, July 20th, while they move into their temporary location of the old elementary school building. The library will re-open on Monday, July 21st, on the east side of the building.