Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced Monday his support for a new $37 million Central Library and included it in his capital budget for 2010.

Cieslewicz’s support dedicates $13 million of public funding for the construction of the library in the year 2010, which will entail the sale of the existing library and the use of the revenue to build a new, multi-purpose structure on the corner of West Washington Avenue and Henry Street.

“This library is indicative of how I think we should respond to the recession,” Cieslewicz said in a press conference earlier this week. “This capital budget is about building the city. It’s about responding to the recession not by pulling back, but by moving forward and investing in our city.”

According to Cieslewicz, this and the Edgewater Hotel redevelopment, which he also supports, will create 1,000 jobs, add $125 million in new property values and also generate $1.5 million in property tax revenue every year.

Of the three proposals brought before the city committee responsible for choosing which library proposal to pursue, this $37 million proposal from Fiore Companies, Inc. and Irgens Development Partners comes with the heftiest price tag.

Other options include a proposal from T. Wall Properties and a proposal to renovate the existing library, both of which would have been cheaper than the Fiore-Irgens proposal.

Cieslewicz said because of the property tax revenues the library will create and New Market Tax Credits offsetting the cost of construction, the time is right to build a new library.

“At the end of the day, it will be cheaper to build a new library than to rehab the old one,” Cieslewicz said, adding his capital budget is $2 million under his original borrowing target for 2010.

Scott Vaughn, the director of the Building and Construction Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin, supported the mayor’s decision to build a new library on the basis of job creation.

According to Vaughn, the library project will create between 200 and 300 new jobs, as well as permanent positions upon the project’s completion.

Madison Public Library Board President Tripp Widder said he is “thrilled and excited” for the new library, adding the library will be a great resource and amenity for downtown residents.

The new library will be more accessible to the public, with 70 percent of its space dedicated to public and programmatic activities, Widder added. Less than half of the current library’s space is reserved for this capacity.

He also echoed Cieslewicz in saying the time was right to build a new library, adding that “doing nothing is not an option.”

Widder also said the project was “by no means a done deal.” The project relies on $10 million of private fundraising.

“This is going to be a tall order in this [economic] environment,” Widder said.

The City Council has to approve the project and its inclusion in the 2010 capital budget during the week of Nov. 9, when it will vote on both the capital and operating budgets.