Bids open for $3.6M renovation

Will update ‘dated’ facility

CROMWELL — After years of delays, the project to rehabilitate and expand the Cromwell Belden Public Library is moving forward.

Last week, the town called for an invitation to bid on the project, expected to cost approximately $3.6 million. Bids for the plan, funded in part by a $1 million state grant, are required to be submitted no later than 11 a.m. Aug. 10.

“The goal is to start this project in this calendar year,” Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore said.

“It still has to be determined how the project will be funded,” he added. It is expected to take nine months to complete.

The library opened at its present location in 1986 and is part of the Town Hall complex, which includes both the library and senior center, as well as town offices.

The renovation and expansion project has been in the planning stages for a decade. Previous Director Eileen Branciforte was successful in winning the state grant. But then the Great Recession hit, stalling the effort to renovate the library.

Now, it is back on track — and “definitely long overdue,” according to current library Director Kara S. Canney.

“It’s a vibrant space. And I expect the renovation and expansion will only make it more so,” she said.

As she spoke, the energetic Canney gestured from behind her desk at the interior of the library, bustling with activity on a muggy mid-week afternoon.

The library currently

encompasses some 13,542 square feet. The expansion project, which involves “filling in what we call the courtyard,” will add another 3,449 square feet of space, Canney said.

The addition will enable the library to use the space for programs and meetings, she said. Those activities “could include book talks, a concert, or a class on how to use the latest technology,” which includes virtual reality — “the next big thing,” Canney added.

“Answering what is virtual reality in technical terms is straightforward. Virtual reality is the term used to describe a threedimensional, computergenerated environment, which can be explored and interacted with by a person,” according to the Virtual Reality Society.

“That person becomes part of this virtual world or is immersed within this

environment, and whilst there, is able to manipulate objects or perform a series of actions,” the explanation said .

While the immediate focus is on the expansion of the library, Canney acknowledged, “the library itself is sort of dated.” The renovation “will make the library even more inviting, and fully ADA-compliant,” Canney said, referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which establishes requirements for access to buildings for people with handicaps.

That effort will involve widening the aisles between book shelves. The renovation will also “provide for more additional study and meeting space, which we desperately need,” Canney said.

She literally lives with the project: Canney shares space in her office with a rolled-up copy of the 68page

plan. The Hamden firm of Silver/Petrucelli & Associates is the architect.

The firm has worked with Canney to incorporate a wide range of colors, some vivid, others muted, into the project.

Once the project gets under way, “There may be some very short periods of time where we may have to close because we have to speed the project along,” Canney said.

In addition, there will be issues involving both parking and routine construction noise as the project unfolds, she said.

“But basically we are getting a whole new building, and so these inconveniences are all for the greater good.”

Jeff Mill / Hearst Connecticut Media Cromwell Belden Public Library Director Kara S. Canney said renovations are “long overdue.”