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River
Falls Journal |
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Ambassador Visit
Feb 21, 2008 |
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Acclaim for Extreme Makeover
Feb 14, 2008 |
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Prepare to build, but watch costs
Jan 17, 2008 |
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People on the Job
May 24, 2007 |
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Awarded
Oct 11, 2007 |
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Giving Back
Nov 9, 2006 |
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New Look Planned for Old Stadium
Nov 2, 2006 |
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Facelift Planned for Ramer Field
Nov 2, 2006 |
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Frisbie Architects’ Owners Attend American Institute of Architects National Convention in L.A.
June 22, 2006 |
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Hudson Star
Observer
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Frisbie Newsletters |
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Prepare to build,
but watch costs
Reprinted from the River Falls Journal
- Thursday January 17, 2008 |
More than a decade ago this community debated the
fate of another old and cramped building — the local
public library.
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Sure, we can wait
another decade, keep
putting out more
buckets by office desks
to catch roof leaks and
brace for maybe a
$20-million price tag.
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The library — really just
a long room — was
wedged into what are
today City Hall offices.
With the area’s population growth, library usage
had surged. More and
more materials were
checked out. Space inside
the library...well, there
wasn’t much of it to
speak of.
The should-we or
shouldn’t-we debate finally ended when a multi-million-dollar project blending local tax dollars and private
fundraising was OK’d. Several years later a similar investment plan resulted in finishing the library’s lower level to
include conference rooms and an exhibition gallery.
Despite the naysayers — Do we really need a new
library? — few today would question the value of the
modern, two-level library building in River Falls. The
library’s heavily and constantly used by various groups,
organizations, and, of course, individuals, ranging from
schoolchildren to seniors.
Now in 2008 the debate has turned to the old City
Hall, where the library room once stood. The City Council
just voted to spend $330,000 on construction plans for
a new City Hall.
Certainly there are merits to both sides of the City Hall
argument. Any time you want to spend $5 million of tax-payer money, the natural question is: Do we really need it?
The honest answer is, no, we don’t absolutely need it.
Sure, we can wait another decade, keep putting out
more buckets by office desks to catch roof leaks and
brace for maybe a $20-million price tag.
Council Member Tom Caflisch believes the current $5
million construction estimate will shoot up and that the
money is better spent expanding the city’s industrial
parks.
Those are fair enough concerns, but they are likely the
same ones that would exist if the project is delayed for
another five years or a decade.
The current City Hall, like the public library in the mid
1990s, has been smartly remodeled but its days are
numbered. Space is tight. Repairs and upgrades will be
continual and won’t come cheap.
An attractive new facility will be a source of community pride. It can also be used for recruiting new, qualified
city employees. The building site at Maple and Clark
streets is already city owned and a stone’s throw from
the improved downtown intersection at Main and Maple.
The design is in the capable hands of Frisbie
Architects. Frisbie is a River Falls firm, and that should
make it more sensitive to cost controls and other local
needs. City officials claim a new City Hall can be
financed by replacing expiring debt-service payments.
This doesn’t make the project free or cheap but at least
taxes won’t go up.
Our police and fire departments — both crucial to our
community’s safety and well being — are pressed for
space in the current City Hall. They will benefit. The plan
includes tearing down parts of the old City Hall and
revamping other parts to give those two departments the
room they need to maximize their operations.
After years of debating the need, there comes a time
to commit. We’ve reached that stage with our City Hall.
There will always be arguments against. The weight has
shifted toward action.
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Hudson Star Observer Articles and River Falls Journal
Articles reprinted with permission from the newspapers.
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