Imagination Center at Reindahl Park Construction Process Begins with Bid Advertisement

Image credit: JLA Architects

The City of Madison Engineering Division is calling all interested and prequalified contractors to submit a bid to work on the City’s new Imagination Center at Reindahl Park (ICRP), the first Madison Public Library facility to be built in a City of Madison Park.

Bid advertisement is the first step in the bidding process that announces the need for construction services and invites bidders to submit the cost for what they can build on a specific project.  

Bidders primarily include general contractors, but a larger, complex project such as the ICRP, will also include general contractors working with a variety of subcontractors, suppliers, and trades.

Image credit: JLA Architects

Background: Imagination Center at Reindahl Park 

The Imagination Center is a unique collaboration that involves four partners: Madison Public Library, City of Madison Engineering, Madison Parks and Madison Public Library Foundation.  

The ICRP will be located off E. Washington Ave at Portage Rd. and will help connect library and city services to the northeast side of Madison. The ICRP is expected to serve about 19,300 people.

The Imagination Center at Reindahl Park will be Madison Public Library’s first new library in more than 25 years. It will be a transformational space designed and directed in collaboration with the northeast Madison community. Featuring a unique indoor-outdoor connection, the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park will serve as a multifunctional community space, where people of all ages can gather and learn. It will be a place for social interaction, civic engagement, and cultural expression. The center will focus on holistic health and expanding economic opportunities for library visitors.

The professional design consultant bid document work was prepared by JLA Architects, GRAEF, Saiki Design, and InteriorLOGIC, Inc.

The total cost of the Imagination Center project is estimated at about $18.6 million. 

Image credit: JLA Architects

Bid Documents and Opening Date

Bidding documents may be found at BidExpress under the title "9610 Imagination Center at Reindahl Park."

Bid Opening is when the City of Madison will receive bids from interested prequalified general contractors and learn their submitted costs. The bid opening date is currently scheduled for March 27, 2025. 

Construction is scheduled to begin in the Summer of 2025 and be complete in Summer 2026.