RIPON (NBC 26) — A renovation of the Ripon Public Library that was put in motion nearly ten years ago is getting close to completion.
Nancy Bell, the library's director, said its truly fulfilling to get this project to the finish line.
"We just have some cleaning, some painting and some moving back of furniture that’s in storage left to do," Bell said.
But before it's done, the city of Ripon received almost $400,000 additional dollars from the state in flexible facilities program funding to help complete the project.
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That brings the total grants awarded up to around $2.3 million dollars for the library. Bell says this level of funding is huge for the Ripon community.
"We were planning and having to use all of the library donated funds or all the way down to our emergency fund," Bell said.
She says high construction prices increased the cost of the project and they nearly had to dip into that fund.
"Between getting the grant award and actually getting the bids from contractors there was a $500,000 difference," Bell said.
Meanwhile, downstairs Linda Decramer is gearing up for the completion of the basement. which will house a telehealth room as well as meeting spaces.
"Sometimes four to five different entities have used this room in a single day," Decramer said.
The basement remodel includes the highly anticipated reopening of the "Romper Room" for kids.
She says the newly renovated children's wing upstairs will allow the Romper Room to now become a dedicated play space.
"It is important in a smaller community like ours where there are not a lot of free options for families with kids to hang out and feel welcome," Decramer said.
Bell also indicated that the downstairs portion of the library should tentatively be ready for the public to use in early November.
