Council continues hearing on library project

Date: 12/14/2011

Dec. 14, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD —

Residents wishing to express an opinion on the town’s proposed $13.4 million public library project will have one more chance.

At its Dec. 5 meeting, the Town Council voted to continue the public hearing on the project’s initial $7.1 million bond authorization request to Dec. 19.

“We want to get all the public input before we are comfortable making a decision,” Town Council President Kathleen Bourque told Reminder Publications.

The meeting will take place in the Town Council chambers, located on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 26 Central St., starting at 7 p.m.

Bourque said though there were many people at the Dec. 5 meeting who spoke in favor of the proposed library to be built on the site of Mitteneague School, including several schoolchildren, there were also some who expressed concerns about the project. There were those who spoke out, she said, regarding “whether the town should be spending money at this time.”

In a previous interview, West Springfield Public Library Director Antonia Golinsky-Foisy stressed that the authorization request before the council was “just asking for permission to, at some point down the road, bond for the money.”

In July, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners agreed to award the West Springfield project a $6.2 million construction grant. The request before the Town Council to authorize a $7.1 million bond is to cover the town’s portion of construction of the project. Golinsky-Foisy explained that to begin receiving funds from the library board, the town must first approve the bond request.

Mayor Edward Gibson said he is still in favor of the project.

“I think it will benefit the town in the long run, improve the quality of life and be a benefit to both residents and schoolchildren,” Gibson said.

He noted that parking and the space constraints of the current building make it impossible to expand the current library site to meet the needs of 21st century patrons. He also noted that the proposed site at Mitteneague School was “not far from the current library and on a bus route.”

Golinsky-Foisy said library trustees have been wrestling with the problem of how best to expand and update the library for 20 years. If this project is approved, she noted that the groundbreaking would probably take place right around the time the current building reaches its 109th birthday.

Debbie Gardner can be reached by email at debbieg@thereminder.com