WESTBOROUGH – The Westborough Public Library will have a temporary home in the Community Center should funds for the library repair project be approved at Annual Town Meeting in March.
On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the Select Board unanimously approved a motion to allow the library to use the back of the first floor of the center.
“We’re more than happy with it [the decision],” said Ed Baldwin, the chair of the Library Building Committee.
As part of that motion, the community center project would be delayed for at least six months, with a target of no earlier than 2025 Fall Town Meeting to ask for funding for the completion of Phase 1 for the project.
Select Board member Shelby Marshall questioned the possibility of the project being postponed by as much as 18 months, with the project going before Town Meeting in the fall of 2026, and construction in 2027.
“I don’t like the extended timeline,” she said.
Work on cost estimates and design options (furniture, interior design, etc.) for the community center project will continue.
A budget presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 6 p.m. in Town Hall. It will include total project cost and contingency; construction budget; and furniture cost.
Baldwin said that with the decision, the Library Building Committee can move ahead with planning. They will start working with the Recreation Department and its architectural advisers to figure how to transition into that space should the repair project be approved.
If approved at Town Meeting, the repair project would replace the 1908 slate roof; replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; restore the historic windows; install more restrooms; upgrade the electrical and fire suppression systems; meet Americans with Disabilities Act compliance; restore the adult areas in the historic building; create a dedicated teen space; and improve program space.
The current price tag is estimated at $13.6 million.
According to Westborough Public Library Director Kate Coraccio, final cost estimates are scheduled to be ready before year’s end. Bids are expected to be announced around December or January, and they will be due and opened in time for the March 2025 Town Meeting.
For the latest on the library repair project, visit https://www.westboroughlibrary.org/about/repair-project/
