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Date: 6/22/2022
AMHERST – Amherst hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation and addition project at the North Amherst Library on June 15 after the estimated $1.2 million cost was fully funded by an anonymous donor.
The project for the library, located at 8 Montague Rd., was first brought to Town Meeting around five years ago by three women – Hilda Greenbaum, Molly Turner and Pat Holland. The project seeks to create an accessible entrance to the library, a wheelchair lift, accessible bathrooms and a meeting space that can accommodate up to 50 people. The town has worked with the Kuhn-Riddle Architects group to design plans and selected Wright Builders as the contractor.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman said the town has not undertaken a project like this for decades and made reference to the other projects he hopes to see groundbreaking ceremonies for including the Jones Library, fire station and new elementary school before calling on Town Council President Lynn Griesemer to speak.
“First of all, it is great to be breaking ground and I hope to see all of you in the future at several more opportunities,” Griesemer said. “We truly want to thank the anonymous donor. This is not just a gift to the town, it’s a gift to future generations of our town and that’s what makes a difference when somebody comes forward and not only provides their leadership in many ways to the town of Amherst but in this case, also provides some of their wealth. That is just lovely and beyond compare. We could not do this without the anonymous donor.”
Other Amherst residents in attendance spoke with excitement for the project while reminiscing on their personal experiences growing up in the area. Nancy Jenks Hankinson remembered her great-grandfather, Charles Henry Haskins, who built the library in 1893.
“I am thrilled that after over 100 years, we’re finally getting something that is also going to be the same design as what he created way back when,” Hankinson said.
Barbara Puffer Garnier grew up in North Amherst and said she always spent a lot of time going to the library as an only child when she was going through the Amherst schools.
“What I would really like everyone to do in their own way is bless this project,” Garnier said. “I bless it with success and blessings on all those who are going to be able to use it. May all the activities here build a stronger spirit of community and enhance our neighborhood feeling, the friendliness, and just foster the wellbeing of everybody.”
Before picking up the shovels, Jessica Barrington from the District One Neighborhood Association (DONA) offered her thoughts on the project and displayed gratitude for the project’s anonymous donor.
“North Amherst Library is the heart of the North Amherst village,” Barrington said. “DONA celebrates with our community the very needed improvements, the bathroom and the lift, to our beloved building, as well as the addition of a community space. This work began with funding from Town Meeting for a feasibility study at the urging of the library and North Amherst promoters. Once the addition and improvements were found feasible, one private, very generous North Amherst citizen acted from the heart to finance the work and maintained the commitment even though COVID[-19], inflation and supply chain shortages. We owe this neighbor a deep debt of gratitude for enriching our library so that it can more graciously serve our neighborhood and bring more people together under its roof.”