What's happening on the new building?

We are fortunate enough to have virtually complete plans for the new library at this point. King & King Architects have worked with the building committee and with the staff to find places to save money, while maximizing the utility and beauty of our new building. Right now, the plans are being looked over by four contractors, to get bids on construction. The contractors are working through the details of the plans, and getting prices from sub-contractors on many aspects of the construction, so that they can get as accurate a picture of costs as possible.

Plans showing the exterior and floor plan for the building are on our website. While there have been some minor changes, few of them effect how the building looks. They are more in the realm of providing more storage space, or shelf space, than any change in the footprint of the building.

At the same time, we are working through the regulatory process as quickly as we can. The Village and County Planning Boards have both approved our project (as of October) so that hurdle has been overcome.

Soon, the Building Committee will get to look at the bids (with all the multiple alternates) and then spend some time to make a decision on which alternates to go with, so that we know what the costs will be for this entire project.

At the same time, we are working with NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) to maximize the energy efficiency of the new building, and to get the incentives for those parts of the project that will help ensure that our new building has both cost effective and efficient heating, lighting and air conditioning.

The Library has applied for a New York State Building Grant for the first part of the project, and should hear in March the official word on how much we will get for phase I. (By dividing the project into phases, we can maximize what we get from New York State for this project.)

The Library has already heard from the Orleans County Foundation that we will get $15,000 this year towards new construction. It is great to get this kind of support from our local Foundation.

We will be searching for other sources of funding from other Foundations, as the project goes forward. When we can ask often depends on the requirements of the individual foundations for the paperwork involved. Funding for this sort of project can be complicated, as we go to all the sources we can identify.

Meanwhile, we are planning for the 111th Birthday of the Swan! On March 17th, 1900 Swan Library first opened its doors to the public. This year we will celebrate by having cake (provided by the Friends of the Library) and we will be showing a movie--in honor of the Swan's Eleventy-first Birthday. An exhibit will be set up in the lobby display case of some of the documents and artifacts we have acquired over the past 111 years--sure to be of great historical interest! I hope to see you here!