New buildings on the way in Victoria

There's a mini building boom going on in the small but growing city of Victoria.

Work on a new retail and office building in the city's compact downtown was finished in August. The 4,600-square-foot property is now filled with tenants that include an ice cream shop, photography studio, and several professional services businesses, according to the developer, Hartman Brothers LLC.

Nearby, construction is underway on a new City Hall that also will house a branch library — a first for Victoria.

And a few blocks away, a new public-works building for the city is being built.

"It's been a long road to get these two [city] buildings to the point where we're almost ready to move into them," said Mayor Tom O'Connor. "It means a significant increase in our downtown presence and real statement of our civic pride." The city buildings, whose total cost is about $6.2 million, are expected to be completed by the end of the year, he said.

The new library will occupy the first floor of the two-story City Hall and will be the sixth branch in the Carver County system. Others are in Chaska, Chanhassen, Waconia, Norwood Young America and Watertown.

The Victoria library won't be as large as others in the Carver system. But it will be a unique facility, with a strong focus on providing users access to cutting-edge technology, according to Heidi Hoks, Carver County library director.

The new library will have Wi-Fi, desktops and spaces where users can either plug in their own laptops and tablets or check out devices from the library, Hoks said. The library also will offer technology-related classes and technical support for local businesses, she said.

The Carver County Board approved a budget of $550,000 for the onetime costs to open the library, which includes furniture, equipment, technology, books and other materials. It also includes staffing costs. Hoks said the funding is part of the 2015 budget, so hiring probably won't begin until early next year. She expects the library to open in February.

Even after the new library opens, the city will continue to have its "express library" at the Victoria Recreation Center. It allows users to pick up materials they have reserved from locker-style compartments they access by punching in a code they receive in an e-mail from library staff. Cologne and Mayer also have express libraries, and one will open next month in Carver. Hoks said they have proved to be popular because they offer users extended hours to pick up materials.

O'Connor said the library will occupy space in the new City Hall that isn't currently needed by the city. "Our strategy is that at some point as the city grows if the city needs it we'll move into the library space, and the county could build a different library," he said.

Victoria, whose population has more than doubled since 2000 to about 8,300, has outgrown its current City Hall and public works buildings, O'Connor said. City Hall also has had mold problems and earlier this year had to wall off part of its office space because of a petroleum smell coming up from the floor.

The current public works building probably will be used for storing maintenance equipment after the new facility is complete, O'Connor said. The city bought a 10-acre site for the public works building and traded land parcels with Hartman to get the new City Hall site.

Terry Hartman said that his firm expects to build a 12,000-square-foot commercial building on the site it received in the land trade. He said his firm is having discussions with some potential tenants.