Winthrop’s public library has taken its show on the road the last several months, but it’s just about ready to go back home for good.
Richard Fortin, director of C.M. Bailey Library, announced this week that on Friday the library will close its temporary space at the Winthrop Commerce Center on Main Street so it can move into its expanded, upgraded permanent home on Bowdoin Street. The library is expected to celebrate a grand reopening on June 1.
“We’ll cut the ribbon, open the door and then we’re open as usual,” Fortin said.
The Bowdoin Street building has been undergoing a $1 million renovation since the fall. The library in November moved from its Bowdoin Street location to a room inside the first floor of the commerce center. The library has use of an adjacent conference room for programs, which has allowed service to continue without interruption, Fortin said. The library had to pack up much of its inventory to be able to use the smaller space.
Fortin said he and other staff members will pack up material at the commerce center on Monday and Tuesday next week. The moving truck is expected to arrive Wednesday to begin the two-day job of transferring the material from storage and from the commerce center to Bowdoin Street. The process of setting up the library is expected to begin May 15, Fortin said.
“We’ve gotten a pretty good start with the adult wing with the items we had in storage,” he said. “We haven’t had a chance to do anything with the children’s wings, because they’re still working in there.”
In addition to setting up computer systems and furniture, Fortin said there are 15,000 children’s books, all of which are out of order, that need to be organized on the shelves.
“It will be quite an arduous task to get that room set up,” he said. “That will be a big focus for us.”
Though the library will not resume regular hours until the June 1 ribbon-cutting, which is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., a number of afternoon and evening celebrations are planned for the week before. Events are scheduled for every day from May 26 to 29, including a performance by the Winthrop Handbell Ringers at 5:30 p.m. May 26 and an open house with architect Philip Locashio, who designed the addition and renovations, at 4 p.m. May 29. All the events are open to the public, Fortin said.
“I think the people in Winthrop are really lucky to have this project come about,” he said.
The two-story addition, which includes a daylight basement on two sides, more than doubles the size of the former library from 3,300 square feet to 8,400. The existing section was retrofitted with new heating and ventilation systems.
The project’s final price tag came in at $1.06 million, which is about $115,000 more than the winning bid of $945,000 submitted last year by Winthrop-based S.J. Wood Construction. Fortin said fundraisers have raised about $900,000 so far, though their effort is ongoing.
“For a community the size of Winthrop to come together like that and raise that money privately for something like this, I just think that speaks volumes,” Fortin said. “I just couldn’t be happier.”
Craig Crosby — 621-5642
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