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07/09/2008 08:38 AM

 

New Look and Location For The Public Library July 9, 2008 ECO staff – Laure Cioffi, Senior Journalist   ELLWOOD CITY – Work started this week designing Ellwood City’s new library. Library Director Veronica Pacella said a library design consultant is meeting with all of the employees to better determine how to design the new 12,000-square-foot building the library board of trustees purchased on Lawrence Avenue, the former site of Eckerd Drug Store. The consultant, Al Kamper of Pittsburgh, will then work with architect Dan Franus of Ellwood City to create the new library that is expected to open in late 2009, Pacella said. The library board of trustees officially purchased the building last week. A private donor gave the board $249,000 to buy the building, Pacella said. The library director said the donor has asked to remain anonymous at this time. The move can’t some soon enough. “We have books we simply cannot put away. We have shelves covering windows. We are just bursting at the seams,” Pacella said. The need for more space has been in the radar screen for the library board for the last six years, but it was only in the last year that the need became more apparent. The library has tripled the number of people borrowing books in that time. Pacella attributes the larger number to an increase in programs offered at the library. The library went from offering 110 programs in 2002 to 185 programs in 2007. The current library building on Crescent Avenue, owned by the Masonic Lodge, is approximately 4,400 square feet and has little parking. The new building is triple the size and does have a parking lot. Pacella said the new building is now a large open space, but they intend to build a program room and the design consultant will work on identifying other special space needs. A community fund-raising campaign will kick off later this month or in early August to help pay for the work. That money will be combined with a $575,000 state grant that that state house appropriations chairman Dwight Evans secured for the library. Evans of Philadelphia visited the library in May with state Rep. Jaret Gibbons of Ellwood City and, after meeting with Pacella and board members, Evans offered the grant through the Department of Community and Economic Development. “I think Jaret realized we were searching for a new place. We are so grateful he brought [Evans] here. It was what really catapulted the project,” Pacella said. Pacella said they are unsure how much the renovations will cost, but they expect it will be more than the $575,000 state grant. She has also applied for several other grants to help pay for the work. Any grants will be combined with the money raised in the community. They hope to have a preliminary design ready when the community fund-raising campaign begins, she said.