Public Comment: Jones Library Expansion at Odds with Town’s Historic Preservation Commitments
The Whipple House Window. When Special Collections was given dedicated space in the 1990s addition that mostly overlooks the garden and the Amherst History Museum, the distinctive Whipple house window reappeared, given pride of place in a reception and exhibition area located next to the Special Collections Reading Room. You can see it today by following the signs, taking the stairs or the elevator to the third floor. The window is slated to be removed with the planned renovation. Photo: Jones Library
The following public comment was presented at a set of public hearings conducted by the Amherst Historical Commission on August 22, 2024.
Two institutions, though perhaps thinking they are doing a good turn for the town, have been instrumental in promoting the excessively large and costly Jones Library building project to the detriment of the building’s historical character.
Amherst College’s influence over the proposed plan is clear. Amherst College professor and Trustee President Austin Sarat, and former College fundraiser and Capital Campaign co-chair Kent Faerber were among the strategists forming the Library Feasibility Committee who hatched the idea of seeking a state construction grant to demolish a 30-year-old addition, expand the already larger than average library building, and transform the Jones into a “community hub.”
They may have been guided by Amherst College’s pattern of tearing down still useful buildings in the name of progress and erecting modern replacements at a cost of millions. Consider the demolition of Walker Hall once known as the College’s Acropolis, the Mckim, Meade and White Little Red Schoolhouse that the College shared with the town, and the 58-year-old Merrill Science Center.
However, this approach does not work for the town of Amherst. We don’t have a $3.5 billion endowment, and we are committed to historic preservation as evidenced by our establishment of the Amherst Historical Commission.
Yet even before project leaders proposed drastic value engineering cuts, the Mass. Historical Commission noted at least seven adverse impacts from the project and violation of five federal Standards for Historic Rehabilitation.
The second institution that has encouraged Amherst to abandon preservation goals is the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
In 2011 an MBLC representative dangled the prospect of a multi-million-dollar grant before new Library Director Sharon Sharry, asking, “When are you going to do something about this library?” Unfortunately, the MBLC imposes a cookie-cutter approach to recipients of its construction grants. They want to see expanded space for programming, long sight lines and transformation from a “temple of learning” to a “community hub.” In Amherst’s case, this was regardless of a survey that showed a large majority of patrons to be happy with the current library and only about half who reported attending library programs.
Amherst’s MBLC grant was the largest of 33 awards across the state. It required the town to commit to funding $25 million or more from tax revenues – an enormous liability for a town the size of Amherst. When costs rose, project leaders were forced to make severe design changes such as replacing the slate roof with asphalt, dropping historically compatible window replacement, and relegating the Whipple Window to a wall hanging.
Please show your commitment to historic preservation. Delay demolition and require total compliance with the Preservation Restriction Agreement.
Jeff Lee is a career computer programmer and regular observer of local government. He has lived in Amherst since 1994 and in the Pioneer Valley since 1973 when he began grad work in mathematics at UMass. He formerly served on the Amherst Redevelopment Authority and as a member of Town Meeting. He is a frequent contributor to the Amherst Indy.