Imagination Center at Reindahl Park

This library is in the planning stages and has no open hours.

Project Vision & Background

Dreams. Visions. Ideas. Hopes. Wishes.

In the hundreds of Madison Public Library staff-led conversations with northeast side residents and neighborhood leaders to develop a new library and community hub concept for Reindahl Park, these are the words that repeatedly surfaced.

These words formed the inspiration for what we know today as the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park, a multifunctional, indoor-outdoor library and community space that would be the first-ever library facility within a Madison park.

Located off E. Washington Ave at Portage Rd., the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park would help connect library and city services to the northeast side of Madison.

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. 

Recent Updates

Imagination Center at Reindahl Park 2024 Renderings

Oct 10, 2024 - Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) announced this week that the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park will receive $4.25 million in grant funding through the DOA’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 will fund public facility expansion or improvement projects designed to provide reliable broadband access to local communities, including libraries, community centers, and multi-purpose community facilities in order to address critical requirements of digital and broadband access resulting from or exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. The grants included 35 projects for a total of $115 million.

Reindahl Park is located off East Washington Avenue in a fast-growing, diverse neighborhood that is largely cut off from City services. According to 2020 Census data, the population grew by 19% between 2010 and 2020, compared to 16% of Madison as a whole; predicted growth in the next decade continues to be higher than average for Madison. 13% of residents were born outside of the United States and 41% of residents are residents of color, compared to 31% of Madison as a whole. The Imagination Center at Reindahl Park will offer high-speed internet and computer access, meeting and study rooms, enclosed park pavilion spaces, and digital connectivity equipment and devices that will enable remote access to work, education, and health monitoring activities and resources. The facility will serve over 19,300 individuals.

The project is expected to go to bid this winter, with construction completed in summer of 2026. See the full timeline on the City of Madison Engineering Department’s project page.