LAKEWOOD, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A project nearly three decades in the making to renovate and expand the Lakes Country Public Library is finally beginning.
An official groundbreaking ceremony was held at the library on Wednesday, followed by a reception.
“We are about to complete an effort begun almost 30 years ago,” Tom Thielke, building expansion and renovation committee co-chair, said. “Even as the 1996 building committee completed the first addition to the original library built in 1982, they were making plans for another expansion they knew would be needed in the future. Most of those people are gone, but their dream lived on.”
The library’s Board of Trustees has raised $1.35 million to fund the building’s renovation and expansion, after determining in 2021 that the library had outgrown its ability to provide modern services.
Capital Campaign Chair Kathleen Marsh said 260 private donations ranging from $5 to $25,000 were made from local donors and individuals across the country, totaling over $256,000.
Substantial funding for the project also came from grants from the WPS Foundation ($25,000), Leon H. and Clymene M. Bond Foundation ($50,000) and Otto Bremer Trust ($100,000).
Additionally, the project received $300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money awarded to Oconto County, and $500,000 in Congressional Directed Spending sponsored by Senator Tammy Baldwin.
