WESTFIELD — Linda Saltus, chairman of the Building & Grounds Committee for the Westfield Athenaeum, said the ongoing work at the library is nearing completion.
“We are doing cosmetic work, as well as a restoration. Most of the things are not going to be changed. It will just be cleaner and brighter,” Saltus said.
The current work, which she called phase three or four of a long-term renovation begun in 2017, involved both outdoor restoration of the historic 100-year-old building and indoor paint and repair of the Great Hall, among other items. During the work, the front Elm Street entrance has been closed, but the library has remained open throughout, with access in the rear and Children’s Library entrance on Court Street.
The City Council approved a grant for $400,000 from the Community Preservation Commission that covered two parts of the restoration. Saltus estimated the total cost of the current work at $1.1 million.
One part of the outdoor work covered by the CPC grant may have been observed by residents this summer and fall, when boom trucks that were brought in to reset the granite steps on the Elm Street side as well as the ones leading into the Children’s Library.
Saltus said over time, water had gotten into the mortar between the steps. “They literally took all of the steps out and restored the piers underneath,” she said.
At the same time, they did work on the water table at the edge of the roof, which diverts rainwater away from the building. She said those had also deteriorated over 100 years, and the contractors took out the old mortar, patched it and cleaned it.
Saltus said the other part of the CPA money went to cover repair and paint of the Great Hall, where they needed 35-foot scaffolding to reach the ceiling. She said it took the painters almost three weeks to repair all of the cracks in the ceiling, one of which ran from one side to the other. She said the painting is 99% done.
Taking advantage of the scaffolding, the library also had electricians install LED lighting and filters on the ceiling lights that will be more energy efficient. Other lights were also upgraded, and new outlets installed.
A new circulation desk is coming that has a lower area that is handicap accessible. The desk will sit on a newly laid epoxy floor for the high-traffic area, which will be easier on maintenance and patrons and will have a longer durability, Saltus said.
Work to install the epoxy floor will begin next week, she said. “Once the floor is in there will be the final work on touch ups of paint, and we will put in the new bookcases and the new circulation desk. The final process will be to put all the books back, now in reference, the mezzanine and loft area — the last step,” Saltus said.
The new bookcases are replacing temporary book cases installed earlier, and were built to match the original book cases in the Great Hall by Dan Gavrilyuk, a Westfield Technical Academy graduate who started his own business, DG Wood Co. The painters of the Great Hall, Martins & Sons, are also local, she said.
“Everything will match, and it will be nice,” Saltus said.
She said the library is also getting a Westfield green serpentine marble fireplace from the razing of the Atwater Mansion for the new police station. “We will display it in the Great Hall as a piece of Westfield history.”
There will also be a new handicap lift in the Lang Auditorium, thanks to a $69,000 Community Development Block Grant the library received this summer. “We hope that will be done in the next couple of weeks … and be back to full use so we can open the Lang and use the Great Hall.”
Saltus said they are hoping to finish the work by mid-February, with a goal to complete it by the Annual Wine Taste on Feb. 13, normally held in December, which will now be a celebration of the renovations to the Great Hall.
She said the Athenaeum is still in the process of trying to fundraise. “We have not yet met our goal. We need to raise another $100,000 to $150,000 to complete the work that’s being done right now in the Great Hall,” Saltus said.
