Library renovation project cost totals $18.3M

 

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Public Library renovation project’s price tag totals $18.3 million, Department of Public Works Director/Library Renovation Committee (LRC) Chair John Scenna said during the Select Board’s Oct. 16 meeting.

Scenna recalled that the Select Board hired Tappé Architects last November to conduct a feasibility study that examined three different library renovation proposals while the Board of Library Trustees looked to get an extension from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) for the rejected new library project.  The LRC authorized Tappé Architects to develop a design for Option 3 this spring.

“We feel that we have a project that is the best path forward for the community,” said Scenna.

The $18.3 million cost for the library renovation project is close to the $18 million estimate that Tappé Architects Principal Charlie Hay unveiled last spring when the firm gave an overview of the feasibility study’s three different options during a Select Board meeting. Option 1 had a $10 million to $12 million estimate and Option 2 had a $15 million to $17 million estimate.

Scenna said the library renovation project will be voted on at Fall Town Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 13. If Town Meeting approves the project, a debt exclusion vote will tentatively take place on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2025.

“The average impact to the average household in Lynnfield would be $208 per home,” said Scenna. “That full amount will hit taxes in January 2027.”

Tappé Architects Principal Jeff Hoover gave an overview of library renovation’s design.  He said the project includes constructing an addition at the back of the building where the HVAC units are currently located. He said the Children’s Room will be expanded as well. He said the main Reading Room on the first floor will be reconfigured in order to increase the library’s collections.

The library’s roof will be razed in order to expand the second floor. Hoover said the second floor will include an all-purpose meeting room and an enclosed Teen Room. He said a glass wall will be added to the Mezzanine in order to make it “acoustically separated.” Study rooms will also be added to the library.

Hoover said the renovation project will address ongoing maintenance issues such as electrical problems, roof leaks and water leaking into the basement.

“We are bringing the building up to code,” said Hoover.

If voters approve the library renovation project, Scenna said it will go out to bid in the fall of 2025.

“We would then enter construction in 2026, and reopen at some point in 2027,” said Scenna.

Board of Library Trustees Vice Chair Anne Malenfant, who also serves on the LRC, discussed why the committee selected Option 3 instead of the two other options.

Malenfant said the last major library project occurred in 1967, which is when the main Reading Room, the Mezzanine and the Palladian window were added. The ramp and elevator were added and the aisles were widened in the early 1990s in order to make the library partially compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Malenfant said the library needs additional ADA and code improvements in addition to fixing other maintenance problems.

“Fixing basic issues at a building can trigger the need for full code and ADA compliance,” said Malenfant. “A project of $500,000 or more would trigger the need for full code and ADA compliance. That is more than a new ramp for the outside. You would have to replace the elevator, update doors and hardware, would have to redo the bathrooms and all sorts of things. And when it comes to code compliance, that is the fire protection system, HVAC and electrical. It’s not small projects. While Option 1 had some building envelope improvements, the majority of that was code and ADA compliance. That was a $10 million to $12 million project, so it was not a small project to address all of those. We can’t do it piecemeal.”

Malenfant said there are no fire prevention sprinklers in the main Reading Room, and said the DPW is at the library “all the time addressing basic repairs.”

“Doing nothing is not an option because the building isn’t up to code,” said Malenfant. “In 2001, the town of Lynnfield put together a MBLC grant to expand the library at that time. That was $3.4 million. Here we are 23 years later, and it is now an $18.3 million project. The increase of $14.6 million is a 440 percent increase. The costs are never going to go down. It will be never cheaper than it is now.”

Scenna agreed.

“We feel that doing nothing is not an option,” said Scenna. “We feel this is the best economical option.”

Malenfant said construction costs will continue increasing if the library renovation project gets rejected.

“Right now, the industry standard is about 5 percent per year,” said Malenfant. “For an $18.3 million project, every year is another $1 million. If we wait four years, it will be almost $4 million more.”

Malenfant said using a piecemeal approach for library repairs would force the building to be “closed multiple times for unknown durations” and “would end up costing more than the proposed renovation.”

“The $18.3 million cost is really the most efficient approach because you are doing it all at once,” said Malenfant.

If voters approve the library renovation project, Malenfant said the library will move into the Temporary Town Hall at The Centre at Lynnfield shopping plaza once the public safety and Town Hall project is completed in December 2025.

“This is the only time you are going to have that temporary space,” said Malenfant.

Malenfant said the renovation project would provide “the best possible version of the library.”

“It retains the character on the Town Common,” said Malenfant. “It creates new critical spaces for teens and children. You will have spaces for people to meet and have programming. It is the best return on the town’s investment and the best public value. The renovation accomplishes everything we are looking to achieve. Something has to be done.”

Select Board member Phil Crawford, who serves on the LRC, said the library renovation proposal is “the best option for the town.”

“If you just do the roof over, that is going to trigger the ADA requirements,” said Crawford. “We are going to have to dive into this building for $10 million to $12 million just to get it up to code, get it up to ADA requirements and fix the things that need to be fixed. For another $6 million, you are getting 5,000-square-feet in additional space for all the programming you need. You are getting an updated and modern library inside with the same character and beautiful building on the Common outside.”

Select Board member Alexis Leahy agreed.

“This does seem like this is the best option because I can’t imagine doing it piecemeal at this point,” said Leahy.

Tappan Way resident Curtis Craffey recalled that the 2023 Fall Town Meeting rejected the new library project and the Finance Committee killed that project a second time after voting last February not to allow the debt exclusion article to be placed on a Special Town Meeting warrant a second time. He also said the $18 million elementary schools’ expansion project and the $63.5 million public safety and Town Hall project are now included in property tax bills.

“It would be negligent and irresponsible to add all of this on top,” said Craffey. “Why wasn’t this renovation cost brought up six months ago at the budget meeting and why we are first hearing about it publicly today when we vote on this in about a month? There has been a huge lack of transparency for the cost of these renovations as well as the process for how Option 3 was chosen. Option 1 addressed the needs while Option 3 addressed the needs, wants and more. I ask for more transparency from the library committee and I ask that the Select Board and town to consider do we need $8 million worth of renovations for a library?”

Select Board Chair Dick Dalton said Craffey’s accusation that local officials have not been transparent with the library renovation project is “an insulting remark at best.”

“This library committee has worked hard and there have been many public meetings,” said Dalton. “There has been plenty of opportunity for input, criticism and suggestions. I don’t think any member of the library committee or this board should have any reservations about how transparent the process has been to this point.”

Huckleberry Road resident Kendall Inglese, who previously served on the Board of Library Trustees, recalled that the 2001 library project was removed from the school and Senior Center renovation projects two decades ago.

“We waited patiently while other priorities went first,” said Inglese. “We really are at the last domino for total improvement of the Town Centre. This building serves all residents and all ages. I don’t really have a place in my neighborhood to go and I go all the way down to the library. It’s hard for me to study and see due to the flickering lights and so forth. It’s also hard for people to meet because we disrupt the rest of the library. Building wise and program wise, this is our best opportunity to do it while we can. The $208 is worth every penny.”

If residents have any questions about the renovation project, Board of Library Trustees Chair Joe Gallagher said residents can visit https://lynnfieldlibrary.org/about/renovation/ to learn more. He also encouraged townspeople to reach out to Library Director Abby Porter and other library officials to discuss the project.