Scarborough Public Library Executive Director Nancy Crowell and Board of Trustees President Bill Donovan hope to have a referendum for a $13.9 million library expansion on the ballot in November. Drew Johnson / The Forecaster
The Scarborough Public Library is renewing its push for a long-awaited expansion that will more than double its size.
The goal is to bring the estimated $13.9 million project to a bond referendum in November. Planning got started in 2018, but then the pandemic interrupted, according to Library Director Nancy Crowell.
A library expansion was on the Scarborough ballot in 2006 and was narrowly shot down. Drew Johnson / The Forecaster
“The pandemic certainly slowed things down,” she said. “It made the world uncertain about what our futures are, what our economy is likely to be.”
The library expansion was “strategically” placed in a queue of town projects, she said, based on the needs of the town during the early months of the pandemic.
The town’s growth also was a factor that moved the library project toward the back of the line, according to Bill Donovan, president of the library’s board of trustees.
“The town is growing by leaps and bounds and, as a consequence, there’s all sorts of capital projects that are needed to keep pace with that growth,” Donovan said.
While the library is looking to regain the steam they lost over the past two years, their quest for an expansion has spanned three decades.
“This library was built in 1989 and we expected within 15 to 20 years it would need to be expanded,” Donovan said. “We went to referendum and barely missed approval in 2006.”
Of the 20% of Scarborough voters to turnout in the June 2006 election, 1,235 voted yes and 1,488 voted no on a $6.75 million expansion, a smaller addition than what is proposed now. Adjusted for inflation, the 2006 price tag would be $9.57 million today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At the time, Crowell told The Forecaster that voters’ rejection was “strictly a financial decision.”
The ensuing recession, and other hefty construction projects in town, such as Wentworth School and the public safety building, further delayed the library’s efforts.
The library “needed to be respectful” of the town’s priorities, Crowell said, but now is their time.
Over the past four years the library has worked with architects and engineers to come up with preliminary designs that call for more than doubling the building’s size from 13,000 square feet to 35,060 square feet. A two-story addition on the right side of the building will comprise nearly 21,200 square feet.
The addition will be connected to the existing building via a new entrance and atrium. The atrium is intended to become a gathering hub with tables and chairs, meeting rooms and space for various uses, Crowell said.
“We have a phenomenal number of talented people in this town,” she said. “The library would like to provide artistic support, whether it’s music performances in the meeting rooms or gallery space for (art) shows.”
The remainder of the first floor would be the youth section, divided into spaces for younger children and teens.
A meeting room planned for the second floor has a seating capacity of 170; the library’s current room seats about 50. It will be adjacent to an activity space with a wide range of uses, including an IT lab, Crowell said.
The second floor will also include office space for the staff, whose offices now double as storage.
The library will be fundraising and launching a campaign in the coming weeks and months. Donovan estimates that 10% of the project will be funded through donations and the rest will be financed by the bond, if passed.
“We will be in front of the finance committee in the months ahead, and then come June the Town Council has to vote to approve the budget, which takes effect July 1,” said Donovan, a former town councilor. “In their August meeting, they will decide which capital projects will be put on the November ballot.”
If the referendum is held and passed, Crowell and Donovan hope to break ground by September 2023 and complete the expansion by the end of 2024.
In the meantime, the library is looking to garner the support of the community.
“We are at the quarter-mile on the track,” Donovan said, adding that it took them a long time to get there. “We’re ready to get the public to really support us in this, because it’s for the public.”
“But it has not been a sprint,” Crowell added with a laugh. “It’s either a 10K or a marathon.”
The current library building, to the left and shaded pink in this rendering, will become the adult section. A new atrium, yellow, will lead to the new youth section, light green and dark green. Contributed / Simon Architects
The second floor of the library addition will house staff offices, purple, a large meeting and activity room, light blue, and smaller meeting rooms. Contributed / Simon Architects
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