Anyone driving on Lincoln Avenue in Fennimore  these past weeks has definitely noticed that the new addition to Dwight T. Parker Public Library is literally taking shape, with addition after addition happening before our eyes every few days.

The lower level structure went up, followed by the upper, with the new elevator shaft’s location visible to the eye, walls to both levels, and in just the last week, the roof trusses/frameworks were delivered.

“The steel trusses are up and are being secured,” Dwight T. Parker Public Library Director Cathy Smith explained in her library update. “Weather permitting they should be pouring concrete in the lower level this week.”

After a meeting with the project’s contractor, McKee Associates last week, Smith stated that upcoming construction plans include framing the new addition’s upper level exterior and interior wall, and once that is completed, the same work will be done on the lower level, followed by spray foaming of the exterior walls.

By the end of this month, with the always stated, “weather permitting,” the roofing will begin.

For April, Smith stated the hope is for masonry/brick work to begin.

At last month’s city council meeting, the bidding process for new shelving and furniture was approved and the advertisement for bids has been sent out. The deadline for bids is April 1.

Smith also stated that McKee has given assurances that the project will be completed by the end of September deadline per the requirements of the  $4,250,000 grant the library was awarded in October 2024 toward its approximate 6,000 square foot expansion/remodeling project.

The grant funds came through the U.S. Department of Treasury Capital Projects Fund (CPF) as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act.

“The terms stated that we be in the building and utilizing it as a library by Oct. 1,” Smith explained. She went on to state that McKee informed them time will be saved/picked up into the summer when the interior work by the different sub contractors (HVAC, electrical, etc.) will have to work at same time around each other.

Smith and the library staff are grateful the library is able to remain open somewhat during the construction due to use of their temporary location at 1255 11th Street, behind Hartig Pharmacy.

  Things have settled in there since opening up back in August, although Smith stated it’s “much more quiet” compared to being in the actual library.

        "Our die hard readers still come in,” Smith explained. The staff has noticed a decrease in the casual/walk by visitors, but they still get a fair amount of foot traffic.

“We still have our school age Storytime after school, but in the elementary school cafeteria, on Mondays, and our preschool one at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesdays in the basement of St. Peter Lutheran Church,” Smith stated.

Come September when the shelving is installed, and “move in process” can begin, like the “move out process,” Smith stated the library will again be asking the community for help moving furniture, books, etc. both from storage and the library’s temporary location into the remodeled building.

Smith asked anyone who would like to be added to a volunteer list when the moving time comes, to contact her at the library.

“We were so grateful for the many volunteers we had for the last move,” Smith recalled, hoping to have similar numbers when the move-in time comes.