Wauwatosa is getting a new City Hall and library.
The Common Council voted, 10-1, to commit the city to a $107.2 million plan that includes demolishing the existing Civic Center on the southwest corner of North and Wauwatosa avenues to build a modernized new 133,000-square-foot facility in its place, with design work to start almost immediately and construction possible by 2028.
The council also affirmed a financing plan for the project that would rely largely on a property tax increase while shifting some of that burden away from homeowners by seeking other revenues and cost savings that have not yet been identified. In addition to $67.8 million in tax-financed debt and $12.8 million in already secured grant funding, the city anticipates filling the remaining gap of about $27 million through additional grants, "value engineering" and private fundraising by the Wauwatosa Public Library Foundation.
David Paulsen
The plan was discussed extensively and given a preliminary endorsement by the council a week ago at a committee-style meeting, and several council members again spoke about it July 28 before the final vote in the council's regular monthly meeting at City Hall. Video of that meeting is available here.
"We're not here to make easy calls. We're put in these seats to make the hard ones," Rob Gustafson, who represents District 5, said in advocating passage of the plan. "What is in front of us tonight is one of the largest decisions any of us will have to make on council."
He made the case that, given the space limitations, dated facilities and costly maintenance needed on the existing City Hall and library, the most prudent choice for the city is to pursue the comprehensive plan known as Option 4.