As you can see by the two pictures at the right the Central Library is rapidly being deconstructed. Work has begun on removing the existing roof and demolishing the northwest corner. We are hopeful that the new exterior of the library will be in place by the end of 2011. Local residents have complemented Dustin Construction for handling noise and waste issues favorably and they continue to work diligently to keep these disruptions to a minimum.
A project this size has many facets: scheduling work and deliveries to keep the workers busy, planning around local utilities schedules, consideration of the neighborhood with regards to noise, traffic, and safety and taking into consideration the 1914 Maryland Roadside Tree Law! County Public Works staff is working closely with Dustin Construction to ensure that this project is successful for all parties concerned.
Little known fact: When building the columns in the current library (1964) cement had to be hauled up by buckets and poured into the framework by hand. Today machines are able to do it quickly and safely.
We continue to post photos on Facebook and our website. Watch us build our Great New Library and visit our two temporary locations, Downtown, 59 W. Washington St. and North Pointe Shopping Center (off Route 11).
- Mary Baykan,
Director of the Library
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CJM:
As a very newly returned tenant back to my hometown of Hagerstown, I was quite taken aback at the discovery of one of my favorite haunts having been gutted-out and dismantled. I’ve spent well over ten years in Williamport, which has a poor library, and also a brief time in Hancock (and how horrible that was,) which also contains an unfavorable library. I have finally returned to Hagerstown only to find the best and broadest of all completely demolished. What a hard blow this is! What makes it worse is that I am close to the downtown library, for all the good this does now.
I suppose now I only have the painstaking resort of watching the slow progress on the new building. I just hope it doesn’t take too long.
Waiting for the new library to be completed is a challenge for the whole community. However, we have tried to make it a bit easier for the people who rely on the Potomac Street library by opening a temporary location at 59 West Washington Street. We hope that you will make use of that location. The collection may be smaller, but all the materials that were on Potomac Street are still available for delivery. We appreciate your patience during construction and when the new library is complete we are sure you will be happy with the results. Thanks for your comment.