Renovation, longer hours part of Passaic's plans for once-doomed building
PASSAIC -- The Reid Memorial Library, rescued last year from a plan to close it, is now being held up as a city gem with a proposal to renovate the building and extend its hours.
Acting Mayor Gary Schaer has proposed an ambitious plan to renovate the Reid Memorial Library with federal grant money to make it comply with federal handicapped access laws.
Schaer last week presented a $614,000 proposal to build a handicapped-accessible ramp, install an elevator to the second floor, make a handicap-accessible bathroom, and upgrade the lighting and replace flooring and windows among other improvements.
Speaking to the library board on Thursday, Schaer said he hopes the renovations will make Reid a "centerpiece for the community."
"To have a public building, whether it's a library or anything else, that is not inclusive and welcoming to everyone, that's frightening," Schaer said.
Schaer said the city would use $529,119 originally intended for road repairs to renovate the library. The money would come from an original $1.8 million in federal funding to the city. Any change to the Community Development Block Grant Action Plan would need to be approved by the City Council.
The library had applied for money through the CDBG program in 2005 and 2006 to fix the roof. The CDBG program provides annual grants to cities and counties for projects that will benefit low- and moderate-income families.
But the city denied its request for full funding. In 2005, the city, which administers the distribution of CDBG money, gave the library board $56,000 for some rehabilitation of the building. In 2006, the city gave the board another $20,000 to repair the roof, although the board had requested much more -- $155,000.
The library stated in its application that it was worth restoring because 12,500 predominantly Hispanic children from low-income families received services at the branch in 2004. Data from the 2000 census shows that out of the 1,558 people who live in the library's immediate neighborhood, 1,425 are Hispanic or Latino. The median family income in the neighborhood is $23,712 and 206 people have access to vehicles for work.
In return for the money, Schaer asked the Library Board to extend the library's hours by three hours, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. to 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. The library is open Monday thru Friday and closed on weekends.
Schaer said he wanted to get the board of trustee's approval for the plan, before proceeding to get a formal estimate.
The proposal comes just a year after city officials proposed closing the 105-year-old historic building at 80 Third St. At that time, library officials said they had to close it because the structural damage to the building and a leaky roof were too costly to repair.
Then Board President Craig Miller cited preliminary observations by a consultant, Architect Peter Manouvelos of the Goshen, N.Y.-based firm LAN Associates.
On Thursday, Public Works Director Ted Evans, who helped present the new proposal, said the LAN report was filled with "guesstimates."
"We have a few more years between doing the roof," Evans said.
Board members said they support the plan but will hold a public meeting at 2 p.m. July 13 at the Reid to discuss its merits.
Board President and City Historian Mark Auerbach said, he too, supports the proposal, but wanted to proceed cautiously. He said there were historical inaccuracies in the report on which the proposal was based. He also wanted to ensure that any renovations would be consistent with an application to put the building on the National Historical Register.
"The Reid is an extraordinary architectural gem," Auerbach said. "I would hate to have anything done to the building to negate it from being eligible."
Reach Meredith Mandell at 973-569-7107 or mandell@northjersey.com.