With a proposed $45 million makeover of the Central Library site on the table, the Madison Library Board voted Thursday to take a first step toward replacing the 43-year-old building.

Board members approved going ahead with a request for proposals that would invite developer Terrence Wall — who is so far the only one to come forward with a redevelopment plan — and anyone else to make a formal bid to buy and remake the site at 201 W. Mifflin St. The vote was unanimous except for one board member who abstained because of an existing business relationship with Wall.

Library Board President Tripp Widder and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz have shown interest in Wall's proposal, a nine-story, glass-and-stone, multitenant building that would include a three-story library as well as retail and office space.

Thursday's decision by the board authorized Cieslewicz to create a committee of five to seven people to manage the request-for-proposals process, with the understanding that the majority of its members would be Library Board members, Widder said.

It's not clear how long the process will take but Cieslewicz has said proposals could be due this fall and Wall has said he could break ground as early as the winter of 2009 if his proposal is selected.

Funding remains a sticking point, although Widder is hopeful Thursday's action will spur interest from private donors who may want to help pay for the new library.

Under the city's current approach, the developer who buys the site and demolishes the existing building would then sell back part of the new building to the city as space for the new library.

Widder said the library portion of the project would cost around $20 million. But that the city has pledged only $11 million. Sale of the site would fetch between $3 million and $5 million, he estimated, and the library would need to raise several million more from private sources.

With Thursday's vote, "We at least start down the path to figure out where we're going to get this money," Widder said.

Central Library officials have for years said the existing library suffers from a range of maintenance issues, including faulty heating and cooling systems, and does not provide enough space.