Staff photo by Clay Schuldt The large skylight at the Public Library will be replaced after the New Ulm City Council a $41,886 bid for the job at its Tuesday meeting.

NEW ULM–The skylight at the New Ulm Library is scheduled to be replaced.

Staff has been dealing with the library skylight since 2018. Water leakage has been and issued. Refinishing was not an option because The skylight had delaminated from the supporting structure.

Other options were considered were to construct a roof over the opening, but the costs were too high. The roof alone was between $25,000 to $30,000. In addition, a roof would require electrical work to install interior lights because the skylight is located over an internal stairway, further raising costs.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the New Ulm City Council meeting approved a $41,486 bid for the skylight from SpecPro, Inc.

The replacement skylight is a different brand of skylight, but it will match the current design.

Building Inspector Ellwood Zabel estimated the skylight was 49 years old.