A group of prominent northsiders are proposing what they’re calling a long-term investment in the community at the Northside Community Library building.  

Speaking exclusively on La Crosse Talk with Sean Dwyer on Monday morning were Scott Neumeister and Chris Weiss. 

Their group is proposing a public/non-profit partnership that would keep the building open for a variety of uses.  

Neumeister said the space would contain a number of different elements that the community could access.  

“We want to have a museum type in there, a little section where we celebrate our history. We’ll still continue to have a smaller functioning library. We want to have computers, free wi-fi access, and a community gathering space. And it’s important for this to continue to be something the community can utilize. And we’re going to fight all we can to keep it that way.  

Neumeister clarified that any kind of library would be separate from the city’s library but may work on some kind of cooperative book sharing arrangement at some point.   

Both said they’ve been meeting for months with the mayor and other city officials on ways to keep the building available to the community.  

Weiss said they’ve created a board and foundation with members from the business, non-profit, political, and leadership communities that’s already gathering funding. 

 “We have an initial capital fund. We have a sustaining operating fund, and then eventually we’d like to create an endowment that would be, you know, keep this thing in perpetuity,” Weiss said.  

When asked, Neumeister said this isn’t just about northside versus southside.  

“This isn’t just about the north side. It affects the entire city. As one of my other jobs in life is being a real estate agent, people are moving away from our city. And we need to drive people back here. We need to give them opportunities. Young families, whether it's the south side or the north side. We can’t tear apart our neighborhoods and lose anchors like this. We need to come together as a city and work together and save these kinds of things.”