Construction began June 24th on the Silver Bay Public Library’s renovation and expansion project. At 10:30 a.m. On Monday, library staff, city workers, and library patrons gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of this long-awaited project. Chairs were set up in the parking lot, and adults and children alike found seats or stood, looking at the shovels in the ground and the construction equipment behind. Even a dog came to watch the groundbreaking.
Mayor Wade LeBlanc spoke first, thanking library staff past and present , City Administrator Lana Fralich, city council, and library board members for their participation and enthusiasm in making the renovation and expansion project a reality. He then introduced the Silver Bay Library Board Chair, Deb Wesenberg.
Deb Wesenberg thanked Mayor LeBlanc, and spoke about the library’s legacy spanning over half a century since the current building was built in 1967. “For over 50 years, the Silver Bay Library has been a place where people can be, come and connect and learn and find entertainment. This project is positioning the library to meet the needs of a growing and changing community for the next 50 years.” Wesenberg then invited the Library Director, Shannon Walz, to speak.
“I feel like the last two years this has been always simmering,” Walz said. “It’s an amazing moment for our community. We had over 3,000 people participate in programs last year, and we’re already on track to hit that for this year.” She related an anecdote that occurred two years ago at Bay Days. “We had people come in and they were like, ‘Wow, this is amazing, this looks like it did when I was a kid!’. It was really fun to see the love people have for the library over time, and it will be really fun to update it, as Deb said, for the next 50 years.”
Shannon Walz thanked the donors who provided finances for the renovation and expansion project: the Minnesota Department of Education, IRRRB, Blandin Foundation, Otto Bremer Trust, Cliffs Foundation, MN Power Foundation, the Victory Fund, American Library Association, Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation, the Friends of the Library, and the community.
The Friends of the Silver Bay Public Library have been thinking about an expansion for the library for the past 30 years, and through their efforts in fundraising over the years, were able to present a check to go towards the project.
Dave Linder, Deb Wesenberg, Shannon Walz, Mayor LeBlanc, Lana Fralich, and Stacy Harder then gathered at the orange shovels stuck into the ground to ceremonially break the ground on the project. Laughter was heard as the shovelers donned hard hats and safety vests.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, attendees enjoyed cake while chatting about the library’s history and its future.
During construction, the library will remain open, and can be accessed from the sidewalk on Banks Boulevard. Parking is available on Banks and Davis Boulevards.
Thank you to library staff past and present for tirelessly serving the community, the patrons, whose circulation shows the value of the library to this community, and the donors who helped make this renovation and expansion project a reality.
