The Cap Times has reported on September 28 that City Council member Sabrina Madison has introduced a budget amendment to pay the extra money needed to build the long-awaited Madison Public Market, but her proposal depends on more help from Dane County.
The lowest bid from a contractor to reconstruct the building came in this month at $15.2 million, which is $2.7 million more than originally estimated and about $1.64 million more than the city can spend without additional funding approval. Madison officials cited inflated construction and labor costs as a reason the bids came in higher than expected.
Madison, the alder for District 17, partnered on her funding proposal with Ald. Regina Vidaver of District 5, and their plan would commit nearly $2.3 million in additional city money toward the project to help meet the total estimated costs including construction and furnishings.
An additional $1 million would come from Dane County if approved by the County Board.
If the City Council chooses to move forward with the project, approximately $1.64 million would be enough to fund the original budget for reconstruction. However, to buy furnishings, fixtures and equipment would add another $1.64 million to the project for a total of $3,279,755 beyond the current project budget. Read the Cap Times article Madison Public Market funding proposal increases by $3.3 million. Also, Dean Mosiman of the Wisconsin State Journal wrote an informative article that describes efforts to fully fund the Market following the higher than anticipated construction bids. Madison Council members propose $3.3M for Public Market traces the history of the Market project and provides insight into the current predicament.
