A library expansion project in Clarion received a quarter-of-a-million dollar boost from the Vision Iowa Community Attraction and Tourism Program today. Vision Iowa Board Chairman Andy Anderson says the nearly 100-year-old library will double in size.

Anderson says the total project budget is just over $1.6 million. The Vision Iowa program will contribute about $250,000. The library will still need to raise about $30,000 to complete the financing. Backers of the project in Wright County have already collected almost $350,000 in private donations.

"They’ve done a great job of private fundraising," Anderson says, "and really just needed the top off, so we’ve put almost the last money in – but they’ve got a little bit left to raise. We have a lot of confidence they can do it." The City of Clarion has committed $950,000 toward the library expansion. Construction is expected to begin next spring.

The only other Vision Iowa grant awarded today was in the amount of $45,780 for a project in Story County. The plan involves construction of a Carriage House Museum in Story City. It would sit next to the Bartlett House Museum, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.