Dear readers,
We hope you are finding plenty to read this summer, while we work on breathing new life into this old building. As you can see, “masking up” has not been an argument for the five volunteers and the two contractors at Whitefield Library & Community Center. It has been just good old common sense practice for more than the sensible precaution against COVID19. When ripping and tearing down 135 year old plaster and lathes from our 1st floor ceiling and walls, full body covering (no matter the heat) has been the practice.
At this point in our major renovation process, our Library room is looking very bare. Taking it back to the original beams, studs, and walls has left the skeleton revealed to allow our carpenters, Jim Loney and Don Conry, to begin the rebuilding process (bringing “her” sturdy old structure up to modern day code). The 3300 square foot two-story frame needed additional support to allow public access to its historic upstair open meeting and performance space.
It is our goal to one day see “gatherings” again on the 2nd floor.
Large granite posts and rugged carrying timbers beneath the 1st floor have held the building remarkably level for all of these years, but adding additional concrete piers, posts, and beams will assure that the upstairs remains solid and useable for generations to come. Once the additional supports are in place and firestops installed within each stud bay, the ceiling and walls can be put back together again. New wiring, insulation, new plumbing, drywall, and paint will turn our 1st floor Library space into a more useable year round community facility.
Much has been accomplished since removing EVERYTHING from the 1st floor on June 14th. The physical labor and expert advice from the volunteer “demo crew” has been an asset well beyond dollar figures. Hours of consultation with our engineer, John Rand from Criterium Brown/Rand Engineers, and our architectural designer, Lynn Talacko, have brought us to this point of renovation. With a new bathroom, kitchenette, brightly-lit reading nooks, and shelves of reading material, we anxiously await the day we can invite our community back in to use the gift of a small local library and a welcoming community gathering space.
Meanwhile, we continue to reach out for funding; not only for the renovation costs, but also to operate our Library when we reopen. It is through your generosity, that we are able to move forward with these goals. We are extremely grateful to our large benefactors such as the most recent contributor, the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, and to all who continue to put “coins” in our bucket and lend a tremendous “boost” to our efforts.
Upcoming Events
Our next community event will be 4 Outdoor Movie Nites. We will hold one per week through the month of August. Please see our webpage for more information (www.whitefieldlibrary.org). Another fundraiser that we are planning is the sale of a beautifully designed 2021 community calendar. Each month will feature a local artists. If you would like to contribute one of your paintings to fill our 12 month display, please contact Sue McKeen at 446-7473. As you can see, there may not be a librarian checking books out for you inside this old yellow building on Grand Army Hill, but Whitefield Library & Community Center still has a lot happening inside. It has been a very busy place, with an optimistic eye towards the future. (The Whitefield Library & Community Center is located at 1 Arlington Lane, Whitefield. It is online at www.Whitefieldlibrary.org.)
