ROCKPORT, Maine — The poor condition of the Rockport library building appears to have settled a longstanding debate over the future of the facility.
The Rockport Select Board voted Monday night to have the town manager look for an alternative, temporary site for the library after a recent engineering report determined the structure is not be suitable for expansion. Town Manager Richard Bates said Tuesday he expected the process to find a suitable location would take several months.
Local officials and residents have debated for several years whether to expand the existing library or build a new one elsewhere. In November 2014, residents rejected a ballot question that called for a new library to be built at the former Rockport Elementary School property.
Bates said everyone now seems to be in agreement that the current library, built in 1949, has no value left and it would make no sense to repair it. He also said everyone also seems to agree the building should be torn down and a new library built on the same site in the village.
He said Select Board members have not gotten to the point of planning for a new library but that the next logical step would be to have a thorough community discussion on what is needed in a new library building.
The consensus has developed in the wake of two reports received by the town earlier this year. CES Inc. submitted an engineering report on the building, and consultant Steve Podgajny, director of the Portland Public Library, performed an assessment of what the community wants for its library.
The current library is 3,324 square feet. A committee last year called for a library of 14,000 square feet. Bates said he expects there will be an agreement on a size somewhere in between those numbers.
The engineering report found rotting floor joists, overstressed roof frame and mold.
The manager said there are a few sites on Route 1 that would be considered for a temporary home, and other locations could be reviewed. The library has about 39,000 books that would need to be moved.