Library to show off historic restoration
On view at open house today, work melds 1939 style, new reader tech.
The Wright Memorial Public Library in Oakwood will celebrate the $500,000 Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Historic Restoration at a community open house and read-a-thon on the lawn from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. today.
The open house will include tours of the recently restored and renovated spaces at the library, light refreshments, an Oakwood Historical Society display in the lower level, and music and activities for children and adults on the front lawn, according to Tracy Staley, public relations and community engagement specialist.
The recently completed $500,000 project included:
■ Restoration of the historic front reading rooms and foyer with new light fixtures, refinished original furnishings and woodwork, additional furnishings, convenient power access, and new carpet.
■ Construction of a small conference room on the main level, which is equipped with technology for collaborative projects.
■ Construction of a central customer service desk, improved flooring, electrical, mechanical and structural systems, and redesigned staff work areas.
“This project has been a labor of love for us here at Wright Library, and we are so excited to share these beautiful spaces with the community,” said Library Director Kristi Hale.
The project was funded by a $250,000 gift from The Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Foundation of the Dayton Foundation.
Gifts were received from the estates of two longtime patrons — inventor, aeronautical engineer and author William R. Winslow and Gerald E. Meyer — as well as $70,000 from the library’s capital fund.
A grant for a custom stainedglass window was donated by the Wright Memorial Public Library Foundation. The window, by local artist Janet Strauss, was installed in the North Reading Room.
“We are incredibly grateful for these gifts. Our vision for the project was to bring this historic building back to the full beauty of 1939 while updating it to meet the needs of 21st-century library
users,” Hale said. “Through the generosity of the Eichelberger Foundation and the gifts of Mr. Winslow and Dr. Meyer, we have achieved those goals with very little use of public funds.”
The building, which is a listed on the National Register of Historic Places, features Tudor architecture, vaulted ceilings, Globe-Wernicke bookshelves and stained-glass windows.
The library was nominated to the National Register in 2013 for its architectural distinction as an example of a Tudor or Jacobethan Revival style library, designed by the Dayton architecture firm of Schenck and Williams. The architects were responsible for the designs of much of the civic architecture in Oakwood.
The project’s priorities were influenced by community feedback drawn from a multi-phased research process in 2016. Preserving the building’s history and architecture, making necessary repairs and updates, and enhancing the facility’s functionality emerged as key findings in the study.
The library’s board of trustees selected local archi- tects LWC Inc. and Arcanum-based Arcon Builders to complete the work.