By Mayor Chris Meyer

2015 is going to be a busy year in the city of Marshfield as many projects move forward. Most notably, the Marshfield Public Library will be moving ahead with the construction of a new facility that will better provide services to our residents and merges community uses into a common community center.

This project was made possible after a commitment of $3 million was made by the common council with a charge to

These renderings show the design for the new library and community center. (Renderings created by Zimmerman Architectural Studios, Inc. and submitted by the Marshfield Public Library)

the library to raise the remaining $4 million needed. The generosity of hundreds of area residents, coupled with the significant contribution of Mr. Everett Roehl, means the new Everett Roehl Marshfield Public Library will break ground next summer and is expected to be completed by the late fall of 2016.

Originally planned as a $4.25 million expansion of the existing library, the resident-driven approach to this project has led to a much larger vision of what our public library can be. The leadership of our resident committees and focus groups has resulted in the successful completion of Phase 1 fundraising.  This will allow a new facility to be constructed, providing more space not only to the library but greatly expanding the space and potential for a community center, which is currently the senior center.

All of this will be done with a cost to the tax payers of $3 million, a savings of $1.25 million over what was originally planned to simply expand the existing library. Partnerships work.

2015 will see the continuation of the city working closely with our private sector partners to find ways to meet the changing needs of our community.

An area I expect to see a lot of activity in 2015 is housing. The city completed a housing study in 2014 that gave us a better sense for what we have in our community for housing as well as what is missing and what we have too much of. The information will be used to drive economic development efforts in 2015 in ways that provide the greatest benefit for our community.

The new year provides a lot of opportunity in our community, and I look forward to what lies ahead.

Always feel free to contact your alderperson with any issue you may have with city services. You can also contact me directly with any concerns at 715-384-2919 or by email at mayor@ci.marshfield.wi.us.

Happy New Year to you, and wishes for a very prosperous 2015.