Project Backgorund

The Board of Trustees of the Library, which has used the current building since 1980, began discussing your need for more space in the mid-1990s. Various families in Wilton offered to donate land in the downtown area. A 1998 analysis and site selection report showed the Library needed a minimum of 8,600 square feet to provide for your community needs and future growth over the next 20 years.

At roughly the same time, the Wilton Community Development Association (WCDA) adopted and endorsed the idea of a community center. The Community Center project gained momentum. The Wilton Library Foundation and the WCDA then jointly determined, “The community is best served, as to services offered, flexibility of space, and operating efficiencies, if the two facilities share a single site.”

The joint facility will save your community approximately 25 percent to construct when compared to two separate facilities because it eliminates exterior walls. At the same time you will realize savings without duplicate heating and cooling and the incorporation of dedicated meeting spaces planned for both facilities. The Library and Community Center leaders further determined that the facility needs to be located where you will most likely use offered services to maximize usage and minimize fees.

In 2002, a collaborative effort by the City of Wilton, Eastern Iowa Light & Power Cooperative (REC), Wilton Industrial Development Corporation (WIDC) and Wilton Retirement Community made four acres of ground available for the Library and Community Center on the north edge of town at the intersection of Cypress and Division Streets.

The feasibility study conducted by ME&V confirmed the acceptance of the proposed joint venture and the commitment by donors and volunteers to reach the campaign goal.