Letter: The Greenest Option For Our Libraries: Reject Jones Demolition And Expand Services In All Three Existing Sites
Architects rendering of a proposed addition to the North Amherst Library. A project to repair walls prior to renovation drew several public speakers at the CPAC public hearing on 11/12/20 Photo: amherstma.gov
A twenty-first century library for Amherst? We are now in our third decade of a century that demands we pursue climate sustainability. “The greenest building is the one that is already built” is an oft-quoted maxim of architect and sustainability expert Carl Elefante.
Amherst already has three library buildings that are already built. And with Net Zero requirements we are making progress. We do not need the proposed demolition/expansion project which some have found to be “sooo last century: trash everything after 20 years and go for bigger is better.” And sooo expensive; over $7 million to replace a 20-something-year-old addition.
Our outstanding library staff is firmly planted in our century and we need to make those three buildings work for them. Thinking holistically we can bring these buildings up to standards much sooner and much less expensively than the unwieldy project.
We need to focus on an enhanced role for all three sites:
* Expand open hours in each building. A splendid way to serve more users.
* Extend services to the underserved with bookmobiles that include apartment complexes with language and transportation barriers.
* Coordinate with public school libraries and other civic spaces to meet the needs of programs such as ESL.
* Address deferred maintenance, a factor in each building. Remedy is happening in the North Amherst Library due to generous private and CPA funding. But at the Jones the major decades-long problem with the heating and air conditioning system has come to dire consequences and still endangers special collections.
* Use the unused spaces. Much of the Jones’s 48,000 square feet is fallow, especially on the third floor. Employ space specialists to redesign the existing confusing layout.
*Expedite the Western Builders 2017 and updated Kuhn-Riddle 2020 estimated $14 million plan for restoration and handicap accessibility at the Jones Library.
“Adaptive reuse should be the default and demolition a last resort,” according to The National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Molly Turner
Molly Turner is a former Jones Library Trustee