Hart Interim Library in downtown could become future Rockford Family Peace Center

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The building that has served as the Rockford Public Library’s downtown home during the construction of its new main branch could be sold to the city to make it the future location of the Family Peace Center.

The city is interested in purchasing the Hart Interim Library, 214 N. Church St., so it can relocate the Family Peace Center into a building that’s more than triple the size of its current location. The building is listed for $795,000.

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The new space is needed because of how much the Family Peace Center, which serves as a one-stop hub for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, has grown since it opened at 315 N. Main St. in early 2020, Mayor Tom McNamara said.

The Family Peace Center opened in less than 15,000 square feet of space at a time when 11 community partners worked within the building. Now, it’s grown to encompass 34 partner organizations and there are more that want to move in.

“Our current location no longer fits the need for the tremendous community collaboration and no longer fits the requirements for what we need, unfortunately, to meet the demand of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors,” McNamara said. “It’s not really compatible or conducive to what we need to do as we continue to grow and provide the services needed for the survivors and their children.”

City Council members will need to approve the purchase. On Monday, the city’s Finance & Personal Committee will consider the next phase of spending federal American Rescue Plan dollars, which includes setting aside $1 million to acquire the interim library site.

Building background

The interim library building was initially a Montgomery Ward department store when it opened in 1928, according to the Rockford Public Library History Room. It was sold to Winnebago County to operate as a satellite jail and was later the home for its Resource Intervention Center, which operates to prevent people on probation from committing future crimes.

The library bought the building in 2016 when it learned its main branch would need to be razed so that ComEd could complete an environmental cleanup of soil at the site. The Hart Interim Library opened in early 2018. It plans to move out and sell the building once its new 68,000-square-foot, three-story library opens in late spring at 215 N. Wyman St., the site of the original main branch built in 1903.

ComEd is paying the cost of construction, with the exception of about $3 million in cost overruns that happened due to supply-chain issues and inflation. The total project is $39 million.

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State law requires the library to provide the city with the first chance to buy the building. Lynn Stainbrook, the library’s executive director, said there has also been interest from nonprofit agencies, veterans organizations and other social services groups.

“We’ve had a fair amount of interest from people who could really use this space, but the city obviously gets that first opportunity,” she said.

A change of location

In summer 2020, First Midwest Group donated the former Circuit City and Pep Boys buildings on East State Street to the city for the Family Peace Center.

The city hoped to win a federal grant to cover the cost of renovations, but without obtaining that funding the pricetag was too high, McNamara said.

“The cost of rehabbing that would just be astronomical at this point,” McNamara said. “It would outpace what our abilities are, and with the tremendous need we know we have to move pretty quickly.”

He said the interim library space would take less renovation. He said using that site also has the support of survivors in the Voices group and partner organizations at the Peace Center.

“Rockford’s long wanted nonprofits working together, having a single point of entry for services being provided and I think this is really one of the best practices that our community has seen in a long time,” McNamara said.

There isn’t a timeline for moving the Family Peace Center. That’s dependent on when the library moves into its new home and whether City Council members approve the purchase. McNamara said he hopes to move quickly if it’s approved.

“First and foremost we need to go to our council and talk them about the need, and then we’ll go from there,” he said.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas