Recently, William Farrell, President of the Plattekill Library Board of Trustees, and board member Mark Cambalik, gave a presentation to the Town Board on a plan to build a 4,000 sq/ft wing off of the present library in Modena.

Farrell stressed that this is a conceptual plan, “of what we would like to do. I want everybody to understand that we are a special district library and we are a separate entity and have our own taxing district, our own budget and our own board.”

Cambalik said the Library Board previously held hearings to gather input from the public on what they would like to see in a new library and what renovations might be needed to bring the old library up to date.

Farrell said the Plattekill Library continues to grow and the number of books being checked out has increased, especially with the younger generation.

“We feel this will continue because of what the library offers and all you need is a library card. Right now we have more than 3,000 patrons for this little library and when you look at the size of the building, it’s still a two-room schoolhouse,” he said. “So after much thought we decided now is the time we’d put it out there to see if we can get a one-story addition onto the old building.”

Farrell said the one-story concept, with a full basement, is a simple but nice design that allows for easy access to the new wing, especially for the town’s senior population. He said for the older building they will have to completely upgrade the heating and septic system.

Farrell said this new wing and the upgrades to the older building are needed, “because we are so tight and some programs we have to cut off because we don’t have the room. We try to do a lot of programs during the summer so we can have them outside; there’s just not enough room inside.”

Farrell said the Community Room will also be upgraded with new bathrooms and plumbing and will be open to the public.
“Anybody can come in and use it, like the 4H club and the seniors,” he said.

Farrell touched upon how the library will be funded.

“Eventually what will happen is at some point we’re going to have a public referendum for a bond [but] we’re nowhere near that now. We’re looking at grants and we do have a grant writer and we’ve been in touch with our political side and we hope to get some very decent grants to offset the costs.” The Library Board is presently gathering more information in order to come up with an accurate final cost of the project.

Farrell described the new wing as utilitarian.

“It is a rectangular building and it’s going to be nice but it’s not going to be extravagant and every inch will be used. It came out to be 4,000 sq/ft and we have about 2,000 sq/ft in the old building,” he said.

To save on costs, Farrell said they hired a consultant, rather than a large architectural firm, to come up with the one story design. He said they are planning to use 100% green energy but noted that it is expensive.

“We have to decide which green energy, perhaps geothermal, and what works the best; it always comes down to costs,” he said.

Farrell said they met with the Planning Board and so far there do not appear to be any significant physical hurdles to overcome nor are there objections from the Planning Board on the design. He is hoping to get all of the plans and real cost numbers solidified and a bond out by the end of this year and to break ground in 2025.