West Paris library trustees are raising money for an addition to the fieldstone building
WEST PARIS – Historic buildings are a labor of love, agree Ted Jones and Rodney Abbott, trustees for the West Paris library.
The library, named The Castle because of its unique architecture, is a gem in need of constant upkeep.
The library has a new parking lot it shares with the Grange, the historical society, the Masonic Lodge, and three nearby churches. The roof has been repaired and internal gutters installed, finally solving persistent problems with water leaks.
No toxic mold was found after extensive testing, and the dehumidifiers upstairs and down are lowering air moisture. A grant paid for new windows.
The money is in hand for the next project – installing lights in the parking lot.
Now a capital campaign of more than $300,000 to build an addition puts fundraising into a whole new league.
Faced with a project of this magnitude, the trustees haven’t wavered. “We’ve got to keep the old library intact,” Abbott said.
The West Paris Historical Society put in a successful grant application to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission to pay for an architect. Reed and Co. Architecture in Portland designed an addition that will complement the original structure while providing more room for the collection, computers, and a children’s room.
“The library needs to have as many uses for the community as possible,” Jones said.
Over the years, the library has received donations from people such as John LaCasse, a neighbor who donated the land for the parking lot, and Hugo Heikkenen, who left the library an endowment. Recently Michael Dean built a scale model of the library in wood.
“It has over 150 hours of work in it,” Abbott said. The model will be raffled, with a goal of raising $2,500.
Abbott sells tickets for a popular calendar raffles two or three times a year. Buy one ticket and get 30 chances to win. The library makes about $1,200 per raffle.
“Every time I sell one, I get to talk about what’s going on at the library,” he said.
The library has been a point of interest in town since 1926. The Mann family, longtime residents of West Paris, donated $10,000 for its construction. The library is officially known as the Arthur L. Mann Memorial Library.
It was designed by Gibbs and Pulsifer of Lewiston. The stone faade was made from broken fieldstones collected in West Paris.
The main entrance is an archway still graced by the original oak door with hand-crafted hinges.
To make a donation, contact Rodney Abbott, president of the West Paris Library Trustees, at 674-2267.
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