MADISON, Wis. -- Two developers presented their different plans for a new Madison Central Library at a public forum Thursday night.

VIDEO: Developers Share Visions For New Madison Library

Some city officials said Madison's 44-year-old Central Library is not equipped to handle the traffic or the demand of its residents and that a new one should be built.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz appointed the Central Library Disposal Surplus Property Criteria and Selection Committee to select one developer to build the new library.

The numbers show that building a new library in Madison will not be cheap. But two local developers, T. Wall Properties and Fiore Companies/Irgens Development Partners, said they are up to the challenge.

"What's unique about our proposal is that we contemplate building a new, self-enclosed library on the corner of West Washington and Henry Street," said Bill Kunkuler, the executive vice president of Fiore Companies/Irgens Development Partners.

Fiore/Ingens' development plan includes a six-story, 104,900-square-foot building for the library.

After construction is done on the new library, the developer plans to demolish the old one at 201 W. Mifflin St. and build a 380,000-square-foot building in its place.

The new building will be for retail space, a 400-stall parking garage and possibly a hotel. The total cost for the library is estimated at $43 million, and the additional building another $50 million.

T. Wall Properties said it wants to build a new library that is 99,506 square feet, but the building will include 138 thousand square feet of additional space for retail. The cost will be approximately $38 million.

"The plans for the new library include a nine-story building, of which the building would operate three stories," said Terrence Wall, T. Wall Properties president and founder.

The city of Madison will front about $16 million of the cost, but the rest of the money needed for project will have to come from residents as private donations.

Both developers said they believe residents will be inspired by their designs and contribute to the project. They also said that despite the tough economy, now is the best time to build the new library since they will save money because contractors and supplies are not in demand.

One developer will win the job, but they said the real winner is the city.

"Regardless of who's selected, I think having a new library is critical for Madison," Wall said.

"It would be a true iconic Central Library, and I think it will be the nicest municipal civic architecture in our city," Kunkuler said.

Many residents attended Thursday night's meeting to listen to both companies outline their proposals. Residents had a chance to voice their own opinions as well, and many attending the meeting acknowledged the aging library is in need of improvements.

"There is going to need to be probably twice as many computers available to the public pretty soon, so why not have a new library if there's going to be more space for electronics?" said library patron Margaretta Kusch.

Even with some lofty price tags, the mayor said the library development could get some federal help.

"It could be that were going to have a library that's shovel-ready this spring, and that would meet the qualification of not happening but for money from the stimulus package. The Central Library could be the poster child for exactly what President-elect Obama is trying to accomplish in the stimulus package," Cieslewicz said.

Public input at Thursday's meeting did not encompass cost issues.

Library officials said that the problem with talking about cost is that both plans have changed their price estimates since introducing their plans, and at this point the numbers don't seem to be set in stone.

Much of the public discussion focused on what a library should symbolize for downtown Madison. It's one of the reasons why some liked having the library move closer to West Washington Avenue under the Fiore/Ingens development plan.

Those who supported the T. Wall Properties plan said they were impressed with the new architecture and having commercial endeavors coexist with the library.

Those who want to learn more about the proposals can watch a replay of Thursday's meeting on Madison's City Channel. It will air on Jan. 13 at 12:30 p.m.; Jan. 17 at 9 p.m.; and Jan. 19 at 8:30 a.m.