McHenry plans
library upgrades
By CRYSTAL LINDELL - clindell@nwherald.com
|
| Travis Haughton – thaughton@nwherald.com
Shelly Rodgers browses for a book with her son, Connor, 5, on Friday at the McHenry Public Library. Library administrators are planning to renovate the current building after their referendum attempt failed last fall. (Travis Haughton – thaughton@nwherald.com) |
McHENRY – The McHenry Library soon could undergo renovations, which officials hope will hold it over until the economy improves.
The move is a response to the failed $32 million referendum, which was on the fall ballot and would have funded the construction of a new building next door.
Library Director Jim Scholtz said he hoped that the planned $3 million in improvements would get the building at 809 Front St. through the next five to seven years.
“This is just a stop-gap measure,” Scholtz said. “This building is still not very safe.”
Renovations are slated to include new meeting rooms, new office space for staff, a new circulation desk area, and sliding-glass doors, as well as parking lot and sewer upgrades.
Scholtz said the building still would need a new roof, new carpet, a new sprinkler system, and a new heating and cooling system. That’s why officials likely will try again in a few years to persuade voters to approve a referendum.
“If we could get it by 2012, we’d be lucky,” Scholtz said.
The renovations could start as early as October and be completed within about nine months.
Funding for the project would come partly from about $2.1 million in reserve funds, Scholtz said. The rest either would be a cash-based loan secured through the vacant property the library owns next to its current building or a county debt certificate.
The board has taken the first steps on the project and authorized Lamp Inc., a construction management firm, to hire a civil engineer and specifically look at storm sewer issues, parking lot problems, and sidewalk deterioration, library spokeswoman Kathy Lambert said.
“We’re just getting going on this, so nothing’s finalized,” she said. “It’s just a small project ... to tide us over for the next few years.”
The structure used to be a warehouse, which means it has more than 10,000 square feet used for storage.
Officials plan to knock down the wall between the library space and a section of the warehouse for the renovation project, Scholtz said.
However, that space has sewer drains that run inside and garages instead of regular doors, which means that officials will have to renovate that area to make it available to the public.
“We’re not going to change the existing footprint of the building,” Scholtz said. “We are going to make use of space better.”
Maggie Mohr, a McHenry resident, said she wished that the referendum would have passed.
“I would love to see them expand,” she said. “I guess that’s the next best thing.”
Greg Bartos, also a McHenry resident, said he was against the referendum and didn’t support the possible new building.
He added that he was glad that officials were finding a way to deal with the situation without raising taxes, even if the solution is expected to be short-term.
“I’m a regular visitor, and I didn’t see that they really needed a new building,” he said.
Recently elected board member John O’Neill said the renovations were the best possible plan at this point.
“It’s the fiscally responsible thing to do,” he said.
O’Neill added that in the meantime, he also was hoping to research other funding sources for the possible new building, such as grants or sponsorships.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing the McHenry ‘Trump’ Public Library,” he said. “Regardless of where the funding came from, I wouldn’t care.”
