| By Big Radio News Staff |

If the Beloit Public Library lands a big COVID relief grant, it could be well on the way to bankrolling a children’s center on the library’s first floor.

Monday, the Beloit city council OK’d the library pursuing a $4.25 million ARPA grant. It could pay for nearly all of a series of renovations, including a proposed children’s center tentatively being called Discovery PLAYce.

Beloit Library spokeswoman Amy Mitchell says Discovery PLAYce would occupy about half of the first floor.

Elsewhere, the library would have upgrades geared for adults, includig workforce development classrooms, technology rooms and a space dedicated to giving information on health care to people.

Mitchell says the library has decided the Discovery PLAYce should remain free of charge to the public.

The grant is through the federal Flexible Facilities Program. The $4.25 million the Library is applying for is the maximum funding allowed for a single project.

That application is due by July 11. It’s awarded this fall.

The library’s been planning the renovation project 2 years, and it has already landed $500,000 in funding from Rock County.