There are no plans to look at building a new library at another location or at the present library location in the near future, Commissioner Ed Borden said last week.
At a recent workshop meeting, the Haddonfield Commissioners supported an “ADA Plus” plan that would make several improvements to the library to bring it up to ADA code. Namely, the library would have a new elevator, handicapped accessible bathrooms, and several minor renovations within the structure to bring it all up to ADA compliance.
The plan would cost about $1.8 million, according to Library Director Susan Briant.
“Everyone is back to square one in my opinion. I expressed my thoughts at the commissioners work session meeting. If we are getting an ADA accessible addition, I hope they (the commissioners) will consider looking at the property line behind us to expand the addition,” Briant said. “I hope they make a larger addition. I did not discourage that idea at the meeting.”
The commissioners, library representatives, and Haddonfield citizens have talked about a new library or the refurbishment of the library for a very long time, Borden said.
However, Borden said the commissioners, library board, and the committee appointed by the commissioners has come to a consensus that the work should be done within the existing building
“We will adhere to obligations under the ADA in terms of what has to be done in the building, and also to make some limited renovations to the building to make it more functional and to make it more able to provide services that a modern library can provide,” he said. “We have to get into the details for this at a later date. For instance, one of the likely things to do is to reconfigure some of the interior space to make the library more functional.”
Simply bringing the site up to ADA compliance would likely cost about $1.1 million for construction and material costs. ADA compliance with some added site improvements would cost more than $1.8 million.
In the past several years the commissioners have discussed several options for a refurbished library and new library at another site in the borough. In June of 2010, an engineering firm hired by the borough explored the cost figures for making the current library ADA compliant, ADA compliant with several additional improvements, a 7,500 and 15,000 square-foot expansion, and finally a new library at another site in the borough.
Several different site plans were explored to build a new library as well, including a recent plan by the Haddonfield Board of Education to construct an $8 million library at the Bancroft property.
A group in town also explored the possibility of a new library being built at the Allen parking lot. The Allen parking lot sits behind Lantern Lane and adjacent to the PATCO parking lot. A brand new two story library would cost the borough about $6.9 million. The structure would have been placed on stilts so no parking spots would be sacrificed at the lot. A three-story structure would have cost about $6.5 million.
