'Fluid' Coyle library expansion plan gets support from Chambersburg council

Dale Heberlig
Chambersburg
View Comments

CHAMBERSBURG >> New sidewalk along Rhodes Drive will not be required as part of the Coyle Free Library expansion project, and Chambersburg Borough Council members appear in support of the renewal project that's poised to more than double the library's available floor space.

Council voted unanimously to waive the sidewalk requirement for the south side of Rhodes Drive — a narrow street frequently used by emergency apparatus to access Main Street from the Second Street headquarters station of the borough's fire and ambulance service. There are existing sidewalks along the north side of Rhoades Drive, but the street hugs the towering wall of the Old Franklin County Jail on the south, making new sidewalk impractical.

Franklin County Library System Director Bernice Crouse and consultant Joe Skeith outlined a much larger expansion than reflected on the project's land development plan.

Skeith said a multi-level building addition will add 17,000 square feet to the Coyle Free facility, increasing the facility's size from 11,000 square feet to slightly more than 29,000 square feet.

He told council the result will be "gorgeous" and eco-friendly, stressing a rooftop lawn, rain-garden storm water infiltration and elaborate landscaping.

To pave the way for new construction, Skeith said, two additions at the rear of the North Main Street library will be razed, leaving the former post office standing.

According to Skeith, the expansion plan includes a "lower level" below the first floor, a second floor that includes an "open atrium" and a third floor that combines an 800-square-foot conservatory and an open rooftop lawn.

Skeith said final design and construction details remain "fluid," barring release of further project specifics.

Likewise, Crouse protected details about financing details for what she described as a $5.5 million undertaking.

"When we first planned this 10 years ago, the estimate was for $10 million," Crouse said at Monday's meeting. "We got that down to $7.5 million and now it's at $5.5 million."

In response to insistent questions from Council President Allen Coffman, Crouse suggested that community support in the amount of $2.5 million would be sought. She declined to say how much funding is already in place, but said "we have some money in our coffers."

Coffman expressed dismay at Crouse's reluctance to share details.

"It seems to me that the sooner you promote this, the better it is for you," Coffman said.

The library team shared some drawings of the proposed expansion that reflect careful blending of the new with the existing structure.

"What we saw is very nice," Coffman said the day after the meeting. "It blends right in with the old portion and reflects a lot of work on landscaping. I don't understand why they aren't more proud. I think it's a terrible mistake not to share this with the public right now."

Skeith said the expansion project is slated to be released for bids early in 2016, with an estimated completion of the project in the "third quarter of 2017."

Council is expected to consider final land development plan approval at its November meeting.

View Comments
https://www.publicopiniononline.com/story/news/2015/10/14/fluid-coyle-library-expansion-plan-gets-support-from/73985476/
www.publicopiniononline.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2022-40
156055
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:OXNKKNCYKLENSUADK3KQ5LWGM4M3UJAL
<urn:uuid:ad75686e-90da-491e-8b96-a0f85a25b350>
2022-09-28T09:32:26Z
146.75.34.62
text/html
sha1:5QYYKCEUTHNGGIA2FIMQLUCFMN5S76OS
<urn:uuid:16d6a3ad-5cb1-4da8-9e25-95283874b73c>
https://www.publicopiniononline.com/story/news/2015/10/14/fluid-coyle-library-expansion-plan-gets-support-from/73985476/
response
<urn:uuid:173da647-cc2a-4c18-98a8-5fbc054cfbb2>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2022-40
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September/October 2022
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-82
software: Apache Nutch 1.19 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.4-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/