SPICER -- The city of Spicer has received a state matching grant for building an addition to the city's Ethel B. Erickson Memorial Library.
The grant is $160,712.50 and comes from the state's Public Library Accessibility and Construction Grant Program, which is funded every two years by the state Legislature.
The city is planning a 2,880-square-foot addition to the west of the current 2,850-square-foot library, which was built in 1998 as part of the city hall/library complex. Construction on the addition could begin in May. The total cost of the project is estimated at $378,000.
To date, more than $50,000 in private contributions has been collected for the project, according to Kimberly Wothe, Spicer city administrator. The city had hoped to raise $200,000 in private donations.
The city has been preapproved for up to $378,000 in Rural Development loan money from the United States Department of Agriculture to fund the remainder of the project.
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The library is part of the Pioneerland Library System. Within the nine-county, 32-library system, only the Willmar Public Library handles more volume that the Spicer library.
