Library Board approves Park Street site
Date: 7/25/2012
By Katelyn Gendron
katelyn@thereminder.comWEST SPRINGFIELD — For the past 12 of Director Antonia Golinski-Foisy's 15 years at West Springfield Public Library, she and her colleagues have been lobbying for a modern facility for their patrons and thanks to a decision by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) that will come to be right at 200 Park St.
The MBLC announced the approval of the library to remain onsite, as the previously approved construction project at Mittineague Elementary School, 26 Second St., was no longer viable as the School Department has chosen not to decommission the school. Previous disputes over whether or not to keep the Park Street location was due to issues related to inadequate parking, according to Mayor Gregory Neffinger.
"The municipal parking lot is adjacent to the library parking lot. My predecessor [Mayor Edward Gibson] would never allow it to be designated library parking. I'm willing to dedicate part of the municipal lot to the library because it's a common sense approach," Neffinger told
Reminder Publications.
The mayor said he was able to sell the MBLC on the Park Street location by citing three benefits: the demolition will be less because the Mittineague School deconstruction would have cost more than dismantling part of the existing library, leaving the Carnegie Wing; the new library would require less than 100 percent site work because it presently exists there; and the overall project would be less expensive due to the aforementioned reasons.
"I feel confident that the cost would be much less than the Mittineague site," Neffinger said.
When asked how much the new library would cost, Neffinger said a new site analysis and design must be prepared before any cost can be determined. The design work has to be finished by Jan. 1, 2013 before construction can begin sometime in 2014, he added.
"I am so proud of this community and how everybody came together from our residents to every level of government to help us ... it was so great to finally see this come to fruition," Golinski-Foisy said. "We're looking forward to having a 21st century library right here on site."
