River Falls council approves construction contracts as library director outlines $7.5 million remodel and capital campaign

Tanya Missalt, the River Falls library director, told the River Falls City Council that the library will undergo a $7.5 million renovation funded in part by a $4 million Flexible Facilities Program grant and supplemented by local fundraising and endowments.

Missalt said the city-awarded construction contract will let the grant-funded portion proceed on schedule while the library foundation raises the remainder. “What we have here is basically a $7,500,000 library project. Dollars 4,000,000 is covered by the flexible facilities program grant that, we have been awarded. We are trying to raise another 2,300,000.0 in a capital campaign to complete facility renovation, and another 1,300,000.0 in capital campaign for 2 strategic endowments,” Missalt said.

The capital-plan context: the grant-funded portion will cover core facility renovations; Missalt described additional work the library hopes to complete with private fundraising and foundation-held endowments. She listed interior and exterior upgrades not covered by the grant, including entryway tile and wall repairs, upgraded LED lighting, new interior furniture, replacement window shades, landscaping and outdoor furniture with solar charging stations, art installations and children’s wall manipulatives, new security cameras, improved public-address and in-wall audio systems, in-room cameras for virtual connectivity, assistive audio technology (for example, a hearing loop), HVAC improvements, possible parking lot resurfacing and a potential solar roof.

Missalt outlined two endowments the foundation is seeking: a roughly $200,000 program-and-events endowment (to restore a fund previously used for capital spending that currently yields about $25,000 per year) and a $1,000,000 operational endowment intended to support staffing for new programs. She described several program positions that the operational endowment would fund on a part-time basis (approximately 15 hours per week each): an artist-in-residence coordinator, a naturalist-in-residence coordinator (to collaborate with the University of Wisconsin–River Falls and the city’s conservation and parks division), a technology and artificial-intelligence/information-literacy educator, and an early-childhood outreach staffer to reach economically vulnerable families.

Missalt described the artist-in-residence as a locally selected artist who would display and sell work (with sales handled directly by the artist) and provide hands-on programming. On the naturalist position, Missalt said staff would create a sustainable-landscaping corridor adjacent to the building to host nature-focused programs. On technology, she said the library would offer device help and short workshops to demystify common AI applications and improve information literacy. On early childhood outreach, Missalt cited the library’s role in preparing children for school through language and preliteracy activities and listed existing community services (birth district screenings, school-district screenings, family resource centers, WIC and clinic-based programs) to emphasize the library’s intention not to duplicate but to complement those resources.

Missalt said the grant-funded portion of the remodel is scheduled to start on 07/01/2025 and to end on 09/30/2026; any additional renovations paid for by the capital campaign would follow that work. She also promoted library events during River Falls Days on July 10 — a 6:00–6:45 p.m. presentation by Jane Hoffman, author of River Falls Public Library: The Legacy of Our Founding Mothers, followed by a 7:00–8:00 p.m. tour of the renovation; proceeds from Hoffman’s book sales will go to the Library Foundation.

After Missalt’s presentation the council moved to a resolution "approving the bid and awarding contracts for construction on the library remodel." A council member moved the resolution and a second was recorded; the council called the question and recorded “Aye” votes, and the motion carried. The transcript does not identify who made the motion or who seconded it, nor does it record an itemized roll-call vote tally in the public record provided.

Questions from the audience/council touched on local-history displays: one speaker asked whether continuing historical exhibits in the lower-level gallery would be displaced by art or naturalist programming. Missalt replied that she did not plan to remove permanent local-history displays but said final decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis and acknowledged that some gallery uses may change with rotating artists and programming.

The council-approved contract will begin the construction phase funded by the grant; the library and its foundation will continue private fundraising and planning for the additional renovations, endowments and part-time program staff described by Missalt.