Building renovation committee co-chairs Linda Saltus and Jayne Mulligan in the newly reopened reference room. (Photos by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – Tuesday, Sept. 4 marks a soft opening for phase one of the Westfield Athenaeum renovation project, according to building committee co-chairs Linda Saltus and Jayne Mulligan. After 22 months and almost $1.7 million raised, the public can begin to enjoy the upgrade to the historic library.
Completed are the back entrance ramp and new lift, unisex accessible restrooms on the main floor, the reference room with a newly refurbished computer area, new rugs and HVAC. Whip City fiber has been installed throughout, along with new data ports, led lighting, and new sprinkler systems.
New ramp at the back entrance of the Westfield Athenaeum.
As part of the entire renovation, a new security system with Radio Frequency Identification (RFI) at every entrance will read a chip in every book, DVD, and video that leaves the library. Saltus said the RFI is the newest technology, similar to that used on the turnpikes.
The Boys and Girls library downstairs, also part of phase one, is almost complete, and due to open by mid to late October. There is a new circulation desk and staff area, new bookcases built by New England Custom Countertops on South Maple Street to replicate the ones built in 1926, and will be stained to match them this week by staff, board members and volunteers. There are new ceiling tiles, paint, and rugs done by King Brothers in Southwick, who have been doing all the flooring, Mulligan said. Once the bookcases are ready, 500 boxes of books now being stored offsite will be shelved.
New bookcases in the Boys and Girls library will be stained by staff and volunteers this week.
A lot of care and attention to detail has gone into the renovation, both to preserve the historic aspects of the building, and to improve the experience for patrons. The iron railings on the new back ramp, and on the stairs from the reference room to the research room in the mezzanine, have the same scallop detail as the original railing on the front steps. The wooden tables in the reference room have been refinished by Lou Sirois of Fresh Look interiors, with “historic” etchings by past patrons preserved.
New touches include private study rooms on the main floor near the back entrance and one in the Boys & Girls library, which may be reserved for tutoring, group projects or meetings. A new staff room on the main floor has new furniture from Columbia Manufacturing.
New mosaic on an old window in the Boys and Girls library.
An old window in the Boys & Girls library has backlit mosaic art based on a drawing by Athenaeum staff member Emily Colby. In the reference room, a few new stuffed chairs with sliding desktops sit against the wall near the magazines, and the teen loft on the mezzanine has throw rugs and bean bag chairs.
The bookshelves have also been reoriented in some places, and the stairs in the reference room brought forward, to open up the rooms. A mural of the history of Westfield in the reference room that has been there for ten years has been given new life in the new space and lighting. Mulligan said some patrons asked her where it came from, and were surprised to hear it had been there all along.
One of two new bathrooms on the main floor, which previously had none.
Phase two of the renovation are two new unisex, accessible bathrooms on the lower level, which will be funded by a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) of $70,000. The bathrooms will be started late in the fall, and the project should take 8 to 12 weeks, Mulligan said.
Phase three will be an upgrade to the main hall, to include a staff bathroom, new flooring, HVAC, and a new circulation desk which has already been built and paid for. The renovation of that room is estimated to cost $500,000, and will begin once the money is raised. Mulligan said they will go back for grants from the Beveridge Foundation, the Community Foundation and the Community Preservation Commission once phase one has been completed. They will also “crank up” their fundraising in the beginning of 2019.
One of the reasons the renovation, which started almost two years ago with required sprinkler systems, has taken so long and cost so much, was the discovery of asbestos which hd been used to insulate the roof above the ceiling in the Boys & Girls library and in another addition built in the 1960’s. The asbestos removal cost $300,000.
Newly reopened reference room and public computer space. (Photo by Jayne Mulligan)
In place of the asbestos, the newest, most energy efficient foam insulation was used. “No one was ever in danger,” Mulligan said about the old ceilings. In addition, once the ceilings were opened up, the board decided to upgrade to led lighting and put in the wiring for Whip City fiber, costing an additional $200,000 not in the original plan.
Mulligan said with the exception of the asbestos removal, every contractor they used was local, if not from Westfield. General contractor for the renovation is Eric Forish of Forish Construction Co. in Westfield.
Scallop detail in new iron railings on ramp and stairs that matches historic front railing.
Another $50,000 has to be raised to complete phase one. Towards this end, the Athenaeum’s second annual wine tasting will be held on Friday Sept. 14 at Shaker Farms. The tickets, which cost $30 and are available at the library or online at www.westath.org, include hors d’oeuvres. There will also be a sports memorabilia silent auction. “It was very well received last year,” Saltus said.
Mulligan admits it’s been “a crazy, huge project,” but added, “We’re getting there.”
Other members of the building renovation committee include Chris Carey, Joe Flahive, board president Susan Kingra, library staff member Liz Cashman, and Athenaeum Director Daniel Paquette, who was hired two months before the renovations began.
Saltus said they are grateful for the funds they have received from the city and the state. She said the library is a non-profit, not a city department as some people think. And although they have an endowment, they can only use a percentage of it every year.
“We just want to make sure it’s good for the next 50 years,” Saltus said.
