CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — Thomas Memorial Library will be renovated with a $4 million bond now that voters have passed the referendum, 3,587 to 1,798.
A $6 million borrowing plan failed in 2012.
The town council in August approved the new plan, along with a $200,000 contingency fund and $150,000 to construct a temporary library at the former Spurwink School, which is behind the library.
Councilor Molly MacAuslan, library building committee chairwoman, said in October the cost of the project would add less than $50 a year to the median household tax bill, or the cost of about two new hardcover books. As for the contingency fund, MacAuslan in August said the building committee doesn’t anticipate needing to spend the $200,000.
The committee has been working with Richard Reed of Reed and Co. Architecture in Portland to design the new library at 6 Scott Dyer Road. Under the new plan, a 1985 connector building between the main library and the children’s library will be replaced with a two-story, 13,000-square-foot building. MacAuslan said it will be 10 percent larger than the current library and 40 percent more efficient because of its layout.
The existing main library will be renovated, and the children’s library will be moved to the lower level. After the Spurwink School is used as a temporary library, it will be used for storage.
There also will be a children’s reading garden and outdoor play space. At the center of the north wall of the library, a stairway will be renovated to include a glass wall looking into the library. At night, a light will highlight the new features, making the building visible from the road.
New features inside the library, in addition to the children’s area, will include computers and media labs, spaces for studying and meeting rooms. Several of these spaces will be available during non-library hours. There also will be a new young adult section that will be visible from the circulation desk.
The current entrance to the library will be replaced with a covered entrance and will have a drop-off loop for cars where the existing parking lot is located. A new, 53-space, landscaped parking lot will be created on what is now a grassy area.
MacAuslan said a renovated and modern library would show Cape Elizabeth is a “forward-looking community.”
Falmouth
On Tuesday, voters in Falmouth also supported a library project, voting to approve a plan in which the town finances half the funds needed to renovate and expand the library, with unofficial results putting the question at a vote of 4,005 to 2,559.
The project will cost $5.6 million, with the town committed to financing half, or just over $2.8 million. The rest will be funded by a capital campaign organized by the library board of trustees.
Projected pre-construction costs for library expansion would cost $302,000 of bond proceeds. This would include design development, survey revisions, construction documents and bidding, plus others, which would occur in the nine-month period leading up to construction.
The anticipated average interest rate on the proposed bond is between 2.75 percent and 3.5 percent. An assumed 3.3 percent interest rate on a 20-year term would yield a cost of more than $970,000. This means the town’s total estimated debt service would be over $3.78 million.
The project underwent much scrutiny and debate from the town council, which ultimately ended up unanimously endorsing it. Despite a similar proposal to expand the Lunt School into part of the library, which was voted down in 2011, support ran rampant through town this time around.
Construction will begin next year and is expected to last up to 10 months.