We are back home!

We officially opened for business on April 14th and have been lovin' life since then. The building is absolutely beautiful with one great area after another. Where to begin? My favorite area is the readng "nook" on the adult mezzanine. There are 6 tablet arm chairs for patrons to use and I heard one man say as he sat down "I have found my home away from home. What a perfect place to read the local papers located in that area. The space is bordered by three big windows, and really gives one a sense of relaxation and peace. There are beautiful built-in bookcases in the border of mezzanine. The bridge from that area passes in front of my office which is very comfortable to work in. The bridge ends on the "gallery mezzanine" which overlooks the children's department. The beams in the ceiling were exposed and look fantastic. A real sense of history has been preserved. As it's name implies, this mezzanine will house the monthly art exhibits as well as two stacks of reference material. A late addition to this space was two tables which have already become very popular with students. The local history room off the mezzanine remained much the same, but with additonal storage space.

Moving down to the first floor, via the elevator if you wish, this area is also a winner. In the adult side the lighting is fantastic as it illuminates the stacks, computer carrels and reference desk. Some of the furniture is new is a rich cherry finish with black and cream tops and edges. We noticed that if you look up at the mezzanine, the wall looks just like a choir loft n the church. How perfect. The YA section is still under construction or at least furnishing but the kids have already found "thier space". On the north side of the main floor is the children's area which has all new shelving. Bright, but not jarring colors have been introduced into the room on the furniture and shelving tops. You just have to see the librarian's desk. It's great, I wish I was a kid. The original meeting room got a facelift and a new kitchenette. Standing in the middle of the main children's room one again sees the great beams up above. We were concerned that the mezaanine would make the room seem crowded but the lighting is great and the open center provides perfect volume of height. Speaking of lights, the "street lights" off the center of the mezzanine are a perfect touch. The circulation area in the center of the two "departments" is nice and roomy with a new circulation desk also in the cherry/black/cream finish. There is also a new "circulation office" area behind the desk for staff to work.

In the basement the community room has wonderful lighting, almost makes you forget you are in a basement. The staff area also got new lighting and some walls for to define staff areas. New staff desks make the room very functional. There is a separate LAN room that already hums with energy. There are two mechanical rooms in the basement, I call them the power plants as they house some big units to move air around the building. Before leaving this tour I must tell you about the main carpeting. It is wonderful. It is a brown/black multi-colored pattern that compliments just about everything in the building. Speaking of the carpet, it also matches the railings perfectly. The railing throughout the building is a cable system with steel rails. The color is a rich "grayish" brown that was matched to most of the light fixtures. We were skepticlal about this element but it defintely works. My description doesn't do it justice. have to see it.

Moving outside, the new parking lot and handicap ramp are working out just fine. It has been interesting to see that patrons still tend to park in the original parking lot down below instead of in the new lot up near the building. Time will change that I'm sure. The landscaping portion of the job is much further along than we anticipated. Thanks to a few generous donations we have a beautiful sod lawn and a great selection of foundation and ornamental plantings. The origianal, elaborate gardens will be re-created in the fall when the time is more appropriate. For now the beds have been heavily mulched to produce a more finished look.

The move back took a little more than three weeks and it was, as my young daughter says "way more" than the move out. The details were phenomenal and a lot of decisions could not be made until the material, furniture, whatever, was ready to be placed. For some reason I thought it was just a move back, but it really was the creation of a brand new library with a lot of the original "stuff". So, with a big dose of patience and good humor, the job was done and eventually we'll find where everything was put! (just kidding) I would say, however, that this part of the project has taken away any desire I might have to sell my house and move to another!

As with any construction job, this one has not been without its bumps and hiccups but all were dealt with in a timely and reasonable manner. We still have a short punch list to get through but nothing is serious or obvious to the patrons and that's what counts. The budget is in good shape and timewise we were two or three weeks past the scheduled completion date. I believe in the world of construction, it doesn't get better than this.


The community has overwhelmingly approved of the job and are so happy to be back home. The day after tomorrow is the official "Grand Re-Opening". Phew...

We're moving back!!!

We keep saying things are moving quickly but now it's really true. We close our temporary space at the end of the day on March 22 and start our move back. Hopefully we will be up, running and open in our newly renovated and expanded library around April 14.
These days the plumbers, painters, electricians, carpet guys and everyone else are putting the finishing touches on their work. The ambiance of the library is being defined now with light fixtures, built-in cabinetry and the brand-new circulation and reference desks. Every day that we go over to the site there are obvious changes, more carpet down, doors hung with shiny new hardware, and cabling put into the railings on the bridge over the lobby. I think the only place there are still wires hanging down is in the computer room where there is a large collection of them waiting for me to bring in the equipment and hook them up.

We have a moving date!

Monday, March 24th the movers arrive to begin the move back to our beautifully renovated library. The move will take 2-3 weeks during which time the library will be closed.

We're in the homestretch now!

Ahhh, the heat was been turned on and this meant the spacklers and painters could move right along. And this they have been doing. As of my visit this morning, the spacklers have just about finished inside and the painters are on thier heels. Many of the walls have already received the primer and first of two finish coats. In case you are interested, the wall color is Dove White and the trim will be Navahoe White. These colors are bright but still soft on the eyes. With the walls painted, one can get a real sense now of how the space will lay out. There are several curves and arches throughout the building and the sheetrockers, tapers and painters have done a fine finish job on these elements.

The study room on the lower level was a late, but much needed addition to the project and the walls have just been sheetrocked. Spackle and paint in a few days. It was agreed that this room needed some windows into the hallway and we were able to use a few windows that were removed from the local history room. They look great.

The cable railing on the mezzanines are scheduled to be installed next week and work on the many finish details is set to begin as well. Various phone and data lines have been ordered and installed in some cases. Telecommunications is vital to a library's operation and its a relief to see the wiring going in.

A few, but not all of the wooden beams were removed from the first floor and some have been added to ceilings and walls on the second floor. While they are only decorative, they provide a nice sense of continuity from one floor to the next.

Moving outside, one sees the new rails for the front step and handicap ramp as were the rails for the emergency exit stair case on the building's west side. The site has been cleared, leveled and looks almost ready for grass.

At this point in the project we are seeing significant progress on a daily basis and the move-back date is looming ever closer.

It rockin inside!

The holidays have come and gone and the renovation has kicked into high gear! We had a complete walk through last week and were pleased to see that 95% of the insulation and sheetrock has been installed on all three floors. The bridge connecting the two mezzanines is up and are just awaiting the railings. The HVAC system has almost been completed with duct work snaking about and vents being installed in all the right places. The library is heated by gas and the service is set to be re-hooked in a week or so. Once the gas service is active, the heating system can be fired up and next comes tape and spackleing followed by paint. The plumbing, electrical and security systems have been fully roughed in and will be completed once the walls are finished. The carpet has been ordered as well as the shelving and furniture. Final drawings for the various millwork projects have been finalized and will be built and installed after the carpet goes down. These projects are limited to the circulation and reference desk as well as the built in bookcases on the adult mezzanine. The elevator has been installed and will be comissioned when we are ready to move back. Although most of the current and future work is interior, there has been some action outside. The new parking lot is nearly finished - a gift at this time of the year. The weather could not have cooperated more. As we walked up to the building today we noticed a flurry of activity to the north of the site. We wandered over and saw several carpenters re-building the steps to the church entrance. How nice the new porch will be! It sure needed a re-build. Several machines were also on-site today removing the remaining piles of dirt and adding topsoil in order to make the site level.

Interior work takes off

I just got back from a walk through the library. The second story mezzanine in the adult room has been completed up to the steel and concrete stage and its gratifying to walk around in this great new space. The walls for two administrative offices on the mezzanine level have been framed out right down to metal door and window frames. In the church portion of the library, the original beams in the ceiling have been fully exposed. With minor cleaning and finish the beams will be a striking feature in this portion of the library. On the mechanical front, all is a go. The HVAC equipment, wiring and lights are all in different phases of rough installation. Work also progresses outside with the completion of the new handicap entrance ramp and steps. It was nice to be able to enter the building from the front instead of the basement! Work on the parking lot has also begun with some land clearing and drainage installation.

Wow things have been happening

I was at the library yesterday and things are really moving along. So many things have been happening that I think a picture or two is the best way to catch up.
So here is the children's room in the old church building with it's new steel and cement floor holding up the steel framework for the mezzanine which has it's steel decking down. The U-shaped mezzanine will connect on one side to a walkway through the lobby to the new mezzanine in the adult room. The adult room mezzanine now has the steel beams in and the decking starting to go down.
In the new basement, the mechanical room and community room have stud walls separating them. The community room has the storage area framed in and the room still looks huge! This is going to be a great place for all sorts of programs!
The old staff area is changing from a big open space to a more functional work area with half walls dividing the room. The computer room is also framed in and I'll have enough room for a workbench there as well as housing the network servers and their attendant bits and pieces.

More Progress & Great Views

It's been 2 weeks since I toured the site and yeaterday's visit was exciting. The cement floor in the future community meeting room has been poured and now one gets a real sense of the room and how spacious it will be. The shingles are being installed on the roof of the 80's addition and the holes in the block foundation are being filled in. I didn't see for myself, but I hear the views from the windows in the new dormers are wonderful. The east window gives a great view of downtown Cutchogue and the south window overlooks Cedar's Golf Course. I can't wait to get a look for myself. The floor in the children's room will be removed soon and replaced with steel and concrete to support the new mezzanine. Getting the steel installed moved this project along significantly.

Things are happening everywhere

I visited the construction site today and watched a very long flat bed truck back out of the site with some of the temporary steel on board. A great sight that I didn't catch with the camera. The church building is now resting on its new foundation and the walls are starting to be backfilled. And that's just one busy area! The roof of the main room has been stripped off and the dormers framed out. Now the lathe strips are being put on so the roofing can begin. Inside they are working in the basement cutting out a piece of the back wall in what will be the mechanical room. Other things are happening but their purpose isn’t so obvious to this non-builder.

The new window on the side of the main room is beautiful, it's shape echoes the front and back windows and is going to add wonderful light to the balcony. It's great to see the actual building shape up after pouring over the plans for so long.

Much has happened.

Much has happened since I last wrote. The new basement walls have been pour and cured and the cement blocks are going up between the steel beams. We are waiting for the permanent steel to arrive and be put in place so the church building can be dropped onto it’s new foundation.

Inside the 20 year old addition the supports in the cellar have been reinforce (sandwiched between more steel) to carry the weight of the mezzanine and new roof. With those supports in place the roof has been ripped off to add the new shed dormers, windows and a whole new roofing system. The shaft for the elevator has been built and it looks impressively tall standing there with nothing around it.