Middletown Library celebrates new location
Middletown officials celebrated the ribbon cutting of the new Middletown Library
which moved to the Roosevelt Community Center, 464 S. Old Middletown
Road, recently.
On Sunday, township and state officials cut the ribbon on the new facility after staff spent the last few weeks moving books from their old Pennell Road location 4 miles away.
The Community Center building was the site of the former Rose Tree Media Roosevelt Elementary School until the 1980s and has now been transformed into the Middletown Township Roosevelt Community Center as a part of a $6.2 million project.
The building consists of two wings — the east wing which was built in 1921 and is the home of the Middletown Township Historical Society and has various renovated classrooms for community use.
The mid-century modern west wing which was built in 1952 is now home to the library.
Middletown Township purchased the property in late 2015 to preserve the building and surrounding open space for community use.
Funds for the project was supported in part by a grant from the office of Commonwealth Libraries. Pennsylvania Department of Education, with funds provided from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. The township funded over half, without the need for any tax increase, officials said.
All systems, including plumbing, electrical, fire
suppression and HVAC have been inspected and brought back into working condition. New high-efficiency lighting and ceiling tiles have been installed, and the interior of the building has been painted and polished.
“We’ve been open for two weeks at our new library and love seeing everyone back after being closed a bit longer than expected,” library officials posted to their website. “Thank you so much for your patience while we were closed and we hope you love the new library as much as we do!”
“The Roosevelt Community Center not only brings an historic school back to life but gives us a state-ofthe-art library facility as well as a new community space and soon ‘Mark’s Park’ playground for our residents in the south end of the township to walk or bike to,” said Middletown Council Chairman Mark Kirchgasser. “We’re excited to have recycled the old Roosevelt School into such a great facility.”
The architect on the project was a local business, Erdy McHenry Architecture. Domus Inc. was the general contractor.
Entrance to the library is to the rear of the building, On Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5-6, there will be a Grand Opening Celebration and on Friday, Nov. 12, from 7-9 p.m. A Craft Beer Fest will be held to raise money for the library.
The township has purchased the old library building but has not made plans for its use public at this time. Other improvements at Roosevelt Community Center are still in transition including improved parking, and landscaping.
The ribbon cutting was part of a busy day at the new library. Earlier that morning The Mark Dombroski Memorial 5K was run. Hundreds of runners turned out for the event and the organization has raised over $35,000 towards an all-inclusive playground which will be located at the Community Center.
In 2018, Mark died in an accident from a fall in Bermuda during a trip with the St. Joe’s men’s rugby team. His family started a foundation to provide funding to organizations that support and promote youth education, athletics, safety, and well-being in his memory.