WEST PARIS – Rodney Abbot, trustees chairman for the West Paris Public Library, announced Tuesday that the planned expansion project is set to begin July 1.

Abbott said the addition will be built onto the back of the building and will not compromise the building’s position on the National Register of Historic Places. It will be a 1,742-square-foot addition, doubling the library’s size. Its centerpiece will be a children’s reading area and community conference room. Computer space and book storage will be added, and the structure will meet American Disabilities Act standards.

The project is estimated to cost $361,000, Abbott said, of which $269,111 has already been raised.

“We have $110,000 to use from our trustee funds; we have collected $130,000 from grants and donations and $30,100 in pledges, so we are ready to begin construction this summer even though we still have to raise the other 25 percent,” he said.

“Our architect, Richard Reed of Portland, feels we can begin construction on our original schedule of July 1st,” Abbott said.

He said the plan is to use local labor as a community project rather than hiring a bid construction company.

A construction superintendent will be hired to oversee the project.