Construction Program grant helps library project advance

Date: 7/26/2011

July 27, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — The construction of a new West Springfield Public Library moved one step closer to reality this month, thanks to the award of a $6.2 million provisional grant from the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP).

“It’s absolutely wonderful ... this has been 13 years in the making,” West Springfield Public Library Director Antonia Golinsky- Foisey said. “It’s just marvelous to see [this plan] come to fruition.”

As submitted to the MCLCP, plans show construction of the new library would take place on the grounds of Mittineague Elementary School, which is slated for decommissioning by West Springfield Public Schools.

Foisey was quick to reiterate that the money was just a provisional award, not complete funding for the proposed $12 million project.

“We have to come up with the remaining money by Jan. 31, 2012,” Foisey said, adding that the amount needed to make up the difference was “around $5.9 million.”

She said library personnel were “taking the moment to bask in the glow of the [good] news, knowing that very shortly an awful lot of work has to take place.”

According to Foisey, the town is responsible for bonding for the $5.9 million in remaining construction cost, but the library must fund-raise to cover any costs deemed ineligible by the state.

She said those costs include parking lot paving, landscaping, library interior items such as furniture and computers, and portions of the library’s bookshelves.

“The state pays for the shelves, but not the end panels [that keep books from falling off],” Foisey said.

She said the library recently issued a request for proposal to secure a professional fund-raiser to bring in at least $2 million to cover the project’s ineligible costs. The deadline for applications, Foisey said, is early August.

“After we choose the company or individual [to do our fund-raising], things go into a quiet phase [while] they do some research and make contacts,” Foisey said. “Then we’re on our way.”

She said fund-raising to meet the library’s portion of the costs was expected to take about three years and be completed around mid-2014.

Foisey said the current Park Street library location, constructed in 1916 — coincidentally in tandem with the town then, as it is now, constructing a high school — has, with additions, served patrons well for nearly 100 years. However, it simply can’t evolve again to meet the town’s needs.

“We have a municipal parking lot and there is just not enough space [for patrons and staff],” Foisey said. “[Also] growth of the population shows it has been away from this area, out toward Westfield Street and beyond.”

She said to meet the town’s needs, the library not only requires more space, it should be located closer to the highest area of population.

“We would be going to a lower socio-economic area, certainly the need is right there,” she added, referring to the Mittineague Elementary School site.

Foisey added she feels fortunate to have a good working relationship with the school department regarding the transition of the Mittineague site from a school to a library.

Students from that school, she said, would be relocating to a soon-to-be-expanded Tatham Elementary School.

“We know there’s a lot of work involved,” she said. “We’re going to work together and get all of our projects done.”

Debbie Gardner can be reached by e-mail at debbieg@thereminder.com