MADISON, Wis. -- The plan to build a new downtown library might be shelved after a new snag in discussions between the city and the project's developer.

Regardless, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said on Tuesday there will be a new central library one way or another.

Negotiations with developers, the Fiore Companies, appear to be at an impasse, and soon, the city might be going it alone. Cieslewicz sent an e-mail to members of the Common Council on Tuesday morning that detailed city officials' discussions with the Fiore Companies and said that there are several issues with the plan that need to be addressed for the project to move forward.

“Every dollar that was put into Fiore's side of the deal, that’s a dollar coming out of the interior space,” said Cieslewicz.

Plans to move the current Central Library to the other side of the block on West Washington Avenue are now at a standstill. In November, the city approved the library project in which Fiore would recreate the entire block as the city builds on an existing structure in West Washington Avenue.

The mayor said in his message to the Common Council that perhaps the greatest impediment to the $37 million project becoming realized is that Fiore officials now don't want to purchase the existing library site and develop the city block, which Cieslewicz said was key to his support and likely the council's support for the effort. He said that without that, the $4 million budgeted for the first year of the project can't be guaranteed. He said the net cost of the project also would increase since there wouldn't be tax revenues from the development of the rest of the block to offset the costs.

"If Fiore isn't interested in doing phase two, then the rehab all the sudden looks much better. So that’s a key to what we have to work out with them,” said Cieslewicz.

The other outstanding issues include the city taking over the project as a public works effort, a disagreement over the cost of the existing structure itself and the $2.7 million in compensation Fiore says it is owed for work done so far on the project.

The project morphed into a public works project after Fiore officials said that they can no longer continue development under the city's approach. Meanwhile, both sides are nearly $1 million apart in negotiating the price of the library's new site. They’re even further apart over work Fiore says it already completed.

"To compensate Fiore for it's time in developing the project to this point. They think that's worth $2.7 million. We think it’s worth $100,000, maybe a little bit more. So, those are the negotiating points,” said Cieslewicz.

Library patrons said that any renovations or redevelopment would be positive. Some said they feel both sides are to blame for the failed negotiations.

“I think it takes two to tango. I think that there's always fault on both sides when a project falls through. People need to accept their responsibility and move forward,” said Mario Quintana, who was visiting the library Tuesday afternoon.

City officials said that they plan to move forward with Fiore on board or not.

"We simply will not go over $37 million. If we can't get to yes with Fiore on a project that comes in on budget, then we're going to look elsewhere,” said Cieslewicz.

Cieslewicz said he plans to meet with Fiore officials on Thursday to continue negotiations.

Bill Kunkler, Fiore Companies' executive vice president, said that he thinks the outlook appeared bleak.

Fiore officials have kept a running blog on the library project going back to 2008 and as of Tuesday, the most recent entry offers its argument of what went wrong.

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.

For More Info:

Madison Mayor's Letter To Common Council (PDF Format)
Fiore Companies' Blog On Librart Project