City of Mount Vernon Receives Additional $4 Million for Library Commons Project

The City of Mount Vernon took another step toward realizing the complete funding of its Mount Vernon Library Commons project this week when the Washington State Legislature approved a $4 million appropriation for construction.

The funding was initially requested by Sen. Liz Lovelett with the support of Rep. Debra Lekanoff, Rep. Alex Ramel, Sen. Ron Muzzall, Rep. Dave Paul, and Rep. Greg Gilday.

The bipartisan backing of this innovative project will assist in providing the area with a new library and community center; electric bicycle charging, and hundreds of garage parking spaces downtown, including EV charging stations.

The project is recognized as a necessary amenity, but also as a catalyst for economic development in the area—commended by legislators on both sides of the aisle for its forward-leaning scope and for the creative solutions it brings to incentivizing investment in housing and commerce in Mount Vernon.

Governor Jay Inslee included a request for this funding in his proposed budget to the Legislature in November of 2021.

Mayor Boudreau, a champion of the $46.3 million project which began in earnest back in 2017, said that the $4 million in State support brings the City’s total current funding amount to 81% of the total project cost—all of which has been secured without any tax increase to city residents.

“We are incredibly grateful to our state legislators for their strong support and advocacy for this project,” Mayor Boudreau said. “This puts us closer to our goal breaking ground this year, and creating a new and exciting chapter in our city’s growth.”

Mayor Boudreau said she is working on clearing the final funding hurdle by pursuing recently available federal infrastructure funding opportunities.