Imagination Center at Reindahl Park Project Moves Forward; Bid Awarded

posted April 16, 2025 – 2:20pm

The construction process for the City’s Imagination Center at Reindahl Park (ICRP) project is moving forward with the construction contract awarded to Corporate Contractors Inc., as the lowest responsible bidder. 

The  Imagination Center at Reindahl Park will be Madison Public Library’s first new library in more than 25 years. It will be a multifunctional indoor-outdoor library and community space and the first-ever library facility located within a Madison Park. People of all ages will be able to gather and learn, utilizing free Wi-Fi and public computers to access online resources for health, wellness, work, school, and more. The Imagination Center at Reindahl Park will be a community hub where people come for social interaction, civic engagement, and cultural expression. The Imagination Center at Reindahl Park will be located off E. Washington Ave. at Portage Rd. and will help connect library and city services to the northeast side of Madison in a beautiful park setting. The ICRP is expected to serve more than 19,000 people.

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

The Imagination Center at Reindahl Park received additional funding in October 2024 in the form of a $4.25 million grant through the Wiscosin Department of Administration’s Flexible Facilities Program (FFP). Funded through the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) Capital Projects Fund (CPF) as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act, FFP grants fund public facility expansion or improvement projects designed to provide reliable broadband access to local communities, with a special focus on libraries, community centers, and multi-purpose community facilities.

Image credit: JLA Architects

Bid details 

A total of six bids were received for the project. View bid results. Corporate Contractors Inc (CCI) submitted the lowest bid total of $12,259,000. The low construction bid is $1,466,000 less than the City’s estimate of $13,725,000.

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