Coventry library renovations on tap for summer

Ben Crnic, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·3 min read

Jan. 19—COVENTRY — Town Council members got a tour of the Booth and Dimock Memorial Library Tuesday, as renovations that are planned for this summer start to heat up.

In a slim margin, voters approved a $1.7 million appropriation to go towards the renovations in a November 2020 referendum. Upgrades include relocating the elevator to be closer to the building entrance, enclosing a courtyard to expand the building footprint, and adding a program room that can be used and accessed outside of the library's normal operating hours.

LIBRARY RENOVATIONS

WHAT: Renovations to the Booth & Dimock Memorial Library in Coventry are planned to start this summer after voters approved spending $1.7 million on the project in a 2020 referendum.

CHANGES: Renovations include enclosing a courtyard near the building entrance, adding a new elevator and staircase, fixing water leaks, and including a new program room accessible separately from the rest of the building.

The plan, originally brought forward to the council in 2020, is expected to cost $1.85 million. Local resident Sondra Astor Stave donated $75,000 last year to supplement the money approved by referendum. The final $75,000 will come from fundraising by the Library Renovation and Improvement Committee.

"It is in many ways too small," Committee Chairwoman Deborah Walsh said, describing the library to the Town Council during the tour of the building to go over the upcoming changes.

"We're going to make this a much more exciting place to be," she added.

Ken Best, an architect from the South Windsor firm Drummy Rosane Anderson, Inc. who is working on the project, gave the council a guided tour to point out where the major changes will happen.

One major aspect of the changes will be that children and parents will not have to go through the adult section of the library in order to get to the floor for children, making it more convenient, Best said during the tour. This will be accomplished by enclosing the space by the entrance that is a courtyard and adding an elevator and staircase there.

Best also said the new library program room, which will be on the bottom floor on the opposite side of the building from the current program room, will be accessible separately from the rest of the building, as it will have its own, new entrance space. This would be beneficial in the case that programs occur outside the normal operating hours of the rest of the library, he said. The room will hold up to 100 people, he said.

He said the changes also would fix the water leak problem the building has been facing, as new roof edging would be installed. Also, the new walls that will enclose the current open-air courtyard space would have a different construction that would deter water from seeping in, Best said.

"This is going to fix a lot of our water problems ... it should solve a lot," Walsh added.

Other changes include rearranging the first floor of the library so that there is more open space, and removing the elevator currently located near the middle of the building. Fifteen more parking spaces will also be added to the far rear of the parking lot.

Best also noted that many of the building's existing doors, furniture, lighting, and other materials would be re-used in an attempt to save costs.

"We're trying to be as economical as possible," Best said, adding, "We kind of looked everywhere to see if there's areas we can save money."

The project will go out to bid in February, with a planned start for construction in the summer, Best said.

"I'm really impressed with the amount of reuse you're doing," council Vice Chairman Marty Milkovic said during the tour.

"I'm personally looking forward to seeing the final product and seeing how it can benefit the community," Councilman Jonathan Hand said at the council meeting after the tour.

Ben covers Coventry and Tolland for the Journal Inquirer.