WESTBOROUGH – For the past several months, the Westborough Public Library Building Committee has been working toward developing a repair project.
“The Library Building Committee heard the town’s voters clearly in last fall’s Town Meetings,” said committee Chair Ed Baldwin. “We have changed our focus to a much more limited project, focused on repairing the existing library with any updates needed to conform to applicable building codes and any renovations that make sense economically and will help the library meet the needs of patrons and the community.”
The committee is currently in the first of three stages toward developing the repair project – schematic design.
Funds for the building study and design costs came from an approved request of $360,459 from last spring’s Town Meeting.
During its meeting on July 25, the committee met with representatives from its architect, LPA|A and its owner’s project manager, Vertex. They discussed the creation of a virtual model of the library with the ability to take accurate measurements. LPA|A and Vertex have also brought in experts to visit the building and begin their evaluations.
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These evaluations will help determine the priority on what needs to be done.
Over the next month, LPA|A and Vertex will develop three “scope scenarios” for the committee to consider. These scenarios will include cost estimates.
“The Library Building Committee is very conscious of costs. Our key goal is to define a project that our Town Meeting will approve,” said Baldwin.
These scenarios will be presented to the committee in September. The committee plans to make a presentation at Town Meeting in October. A complete, detailed cost estimate is scheduled to be ready in December.
The committee anticipates a funding request for design development and construction documents at the spring 2024 Town Meeting; and a request to fund the project itself at the spring 2025 Town Meeting.
The committee plans to conduct public outreach sessions during the library’s annual open house on Friday, Sept. 8.
The committee is also in the process of updating its website.
