After 11 years, town breaks ground on addition

GREENE – ReNae Gagnon began working to expand the Greene town library – the Julia Adams Morse Memorial Library – even before she was a mom.

Now she has a 10-year-old. And finally, the work is under way.

On Friday, heavy equipment and turned earth surrounded the little brick building on Main Street in Greene Center. The foundation was complete and electricians had begun running new cords.

“We’ve learned a lot and scaled back,” said Gagnon, who leads the Library Expansion Committee. “This has been going on since 1996.”

The expansion came up the same time as several area library projects – including the multi-million-dollar expansions in Lewiston and Auburn.

However, as plans in those cities were given the go-ahead, Greene voters balked when a proposal came forward with a $700,000 price tag attached.

“Two years ago, the project was at a standstill,” Town Manager Charles Noonan said. Selectmen and the Budget Committee, who had saved $150,000 for the library expansion, decided they needed to either do something or put the money into the general fund.

They hired a new architect and decided to hold off on some portions of the renovation.

“People decided to do what they could afford rather than find a way to pay for something else,” he said.

Last year, the smaller project was put to bid.

The lowest of three bids, $316,000, came from a former member of the expansion committee, Bruce Sanford of BW Construction Inc.

The town settled on a less ambitious expansion that still added such amenities as a parking lot and a new heating system.

And it added about 1,800 square feet of space.

“There’s definitely a group of people that really appreciates having a place to relax and read,” Gagnon said.

The 24-by-40-foot library had grown so uncomfortably crowded that patrons had a hard time getting a book.

“It was just packed to the rafters,” Gagnon said.

By necessity, much of the collection was stored in the basement, something that turned catastrophic when library workers began the task of packing up.

The volumes were damaged by mold in the wet cellar.

The town pulled in an expert from Bates College, who recommended that the lot be thrown away, lest the mold spread to the undamaged books, Noonan said.

The discarded books filled two dump trucks.

The most prized books were upstairs, Noonan said.

However, Gagnon said the library will be eager to expand the collection when it moves into its new home in August or September. They also hope to raise money for new furniture.

Ceiling and flooring in the existing building might also be replaced if there are no problems. A contingency fund was created to deal with unplanned problems.

“We’re not expecting any, but you never know,” Noonan said.