Royalton
“If that bond fails, then basically I think the library would have to close. It’s that serious,” said Peggy Ainsworth, the Royalton Selectboard’s liaison to the library’s Board of Trustees. “There are various fire and safety codes that are not being met.”
The meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Royalton Academy Building, is being held in advance of a townwide vote scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 24.
That is the same day that residents will vote on whether Royalton’s school district should merge with the school district in neighboring Bethel.
In May, library officials from the Royalton Memorial Library Association expressed concern that bringing the two issues to voters at the same time could put “too much pressure” on the town, according to meeting minutes, but they ultimately decided to pursue the bond this year.
The two-story brick library was built between 1920 and 1924, and was purchased by the town for $1 from the Library Association in 1971. The Association leases the property back from the town at a cost of $1 per year.
The building was entered in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the South Royalton Historic District in 1976. The Town Clerk’s Office occupied the basement from 1957 until 2014, when a $600,000 bond allowed for the construction of a new town office building.
Ainsworth said that opening up the basement was an important preliminary step in the long-gestating library plans.
“I’ve lived here 17 years and they’ve been working on this since then,” she said. “Things got put off and put off until we bought our office building.”
If the bond is approved, the $750,000 renovation project would create a library addition with an elevator for accessibility; the renovations would also create an accessible front entrance to the building, which currently can only be accessed via a flight of concrete steps.
If approved, the timeline calls for ground to be broken on the project in the spring.
The library has been under pressure from both the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration to address safety and accessibility concerns or face closure.
The library currently lacks a secondary fire egress or a second-floor bathroom, and also suffers from poor insulation, an unreliable heating system, and deteriorating electrical and plumbing systems, according to state grant application materials presented by library officials.
Though the bond, which has also received unanimous support from the Selectboard, would authorize borrowing of up to $750,000, officials expect the actual amount borrowed will be roughly $290,000, because a fundraising campaign has already raised $460,000 toward the cost of the project.
Just last month, the group netted a $60,000 historic preservation grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and Ainsworth said more fundraising is ongoing.
“The bond vote is for the full amount because the bond bank requires that you have access to enough money to finish your project,” she said. “They don’t want to be left hanging with a partially finished building.”
The renovation project would also replace the building’s heating and cooling system, add a meeting room for area groups, and create more space for book storage.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.