New Library Groundbreaking Ceremony is August 11
Event marks a historic moment in the library’s 50 anniversary year
The Kimball Library Building Committee will hold a groundbreaking event for the new Kimball Public Library on Sunday, August 11, 2019, from 3:30 to 4 p.m. at the building site. This event follows the Kimball Days Parade, which honors former librarian and the library project’s first major donor Lorraine Gregory, the parade’s Grand Marshall. Not only is this a significant event in the community’s history, the new library groundbreaking celebrates 50 years of a Great River Regional Library branch in the community.
It’s been just over a year since the City of Kimball purchased property at 51 Spruce Avenue for the new home of the library and two years since a task force was formed with the goal of keeping the library in the community. The task force was also responsible for identifying the new library building location and launching a successful fundraising effort. On July 23, 2018, the task force unveiled an architectural design for the new library at a community event “Meet the Architect.” At this event, Lorraine Gregory was recognized for her longtime contribution to the library programming in the community and for a generous gift from the Gregory family that helped kick off the public phase of the library fundraising program.
On October 25, 2018, the task force announced it raised the local match of $560,602 needed to apply for a state library construction grant. In December of 2018, the City of Kimball was awarded a $439,511.97 Library Construction Grant from the Minnesota Department of Education for a new building. The Library Construction Grant was a competitive dollar-for-dollar matching grant program providing public libraries with funding for construction, renovation and improvement projects that result in more accessible and energy efficient library facilities.
Since January, the Kimball Library Building Committee, made up of representatives from the City of Kimball, the Great River Regional Library, the Kimball Area Friends of the Library, and other community members, have worked through the end grant agreement with the State of Minnesota, finalized building plans working with Rice Companies and Bentz, Thompson Rietow (BTR) and Westwood Professional Services that meet the state’s requirement for B3 Guidelines. They have also worked on the project budgeting with city representatives and organized the much-anticipated groundbreaking event.
Join members of the Kimball Library Building Committee, the City of Kimball, Great River Regional Library and Rice Companies, the building’s construction manager, and special guests to break ground and mark this historic moment. Members of Kimball FFA will be on hand to serve ice cream to thank community members for coming.
To learn more or to be added to a Kimball Public Library Project update email list, visit kimball-library.org.
The new Kimball Public Library will be located at 51 Spruce Avenue West, Kimball, at the corner of Spruce Avenue and Elm Street. It will be a 4,200 square-foot building located in a quiet and healthy neighborhood and located close to downtown and an area where it serves as an anchor for future property development.