Library Building Project Plans Outreach Event. Rising Costs Pressure Budget
Jones Library. Photo: wilkipedia.org
Jones Library News Highlights For The Week Of April 3, 2022
Outreach Subcommittee Plans May 1 Event To Gather Commentary On New Building Design
The Jones Library Building Committee’s (JLBC) Outreach Subcommittee met on April 5 to plan an event intended to inform the public about the changes that are envisioned for the renovated library, and to collect community feedback to bring back to the Design Subcommittee.
The event will take place at the Jones Library on Sunday May 1, beginning at 12 p.m. and ending at 2 p.m. so as not to conflict with the ARPS Linguistic Heritage Month Celebration that runs from 2-5 p.m. on the Town Common. A number of tables depicting various aspects of the library project will be set up and staffed by experts from the library and community at large.
Committee member and Town Councilor Anika Lopes mentioned a couple of the community members who may take part. Amilcar Shabazz is interested in representing the Special Collections table from a historical perspective; Lopes’s mother, Deborah Bridges, who curates the town’s Civil War tablets now on display at the Bangs Center is expected to describe the possibility of mounting the marble tablets in the renovated library.
Flip charts where attendees can jot down ideas and comments will be present. Childcare will be available from noon to 1pm.
Chair and trustee Alex Lefebvre asked how organizers might get the word out to make it a true community event. Publicizing to local churches, the Jewish Community Center, and the local schools was suggested. Resident member Xander Lopez proposed reaching out to people who have been opposed to the library project and who may be feeling disenfranchised. His suggestion received no response. Lopez also pointed out that May 1 is International Workers Day, and during his union organizing days in Chicago he would have been unavailable on that day. Lefebvre replied that event planning is too far along to change the schedule, but that it was good to know.
Endowment investment management fee on the rise
The Jones Library endowment, valued between $9 and $10 million dollars, is managed by Vanguard Institutional Advisory Services. Vanguard’s Dan Voss, who oversees the Jones account, informed the Library Investment Committee that his company’s minimum annual management fee, which is based on size of assets under management, is being set at $30,000 going forward. Beginning in October, the Jones Library will be seeing its yearly management fee increase from $27,915 to the $30,000 minimum.
Building project challenged by budget constraints
Fitting the Finegold Alexander Architects (FAA) proposed designer fee under the $2.8 million budgeted amount required designating several services as not contractual, but optional with an additional fee attached. These optional additional items include some services related to sustainability improvements, graphic renderings that may be needed for the capital campaign, and additional in-person meetings that are estimated to cost $2000 each.
[See related Library Building Committee Works to Bring Designer Costs Within Budget]
At the March 29 JLBC meeting, Library Director Sharon Sharry proposed a cost-cutting approach that might require groups of people representing “special interests” who desire one on one time with FAA to pay for those meeting costs themselves. She offered for example design discussions related to the Civil War tablets. “I’m not sure that [the tablets] will end up being one of our chosen most important meetings that we are approving,” she said.
Construction costs also loom as a potential limiting factor. FAA’s $2,725,000 designer fee proposal included the stated assumption that building construction will cost $27 million or $429 per square foot for the 63,000 square feet building. An April 8 story in the Hampshire Gazette about Shutesbury’s quest for a new library quoted Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) construction specialist Andrea Bono-Bunker estimating that construction costs might exceed $1000 per square foot and total building costs could be more than $1500 per square foot.
A requirement of the $13.8 million MBLC grant that Amherst has been awarded is that the size of the library ultimately constructed must match the size described in the grant application (63,000 SF).
JLBC to discuss historic preservation review
Library project planners have received criticism for not announcing any plans to vet the impact of construction on a state- and national-registered historic property before the Massachusetts Historical Commission as required for recipients of state grants. This issue may be addressed at the next meeting of the JLBC Design Subcommittee. FAA presenting “MA Historic Commission Process” is an item on the agenda for the meeting which is scheduled for Friday, April 15 at 9am.
For clarity and truth:
-Amilcar Shabazz and Debora Bridges (please note correct spelling) will partner at the Special Collections station.
– Though Bridges and Shabazz serve on the Civil War Tablet Committee, there was no mention of the tablets during the meeting to report expectation from Bridges who was not in attendance or contacted by the Amherst Indy.
– Xander Lopez did receive a response to his thoughtful suggestion. Being that, so far, two community members opposed to the Jones building project are participating in the event and assisting with community outreach.
This event is an opportunity for all community, regardless of previous or current position on the Jones project, to help envision and create the future of the Jones as applicable.
Thank you for your comments and clarification, Anika. You are accurate in saying that the Civil War tablets were not mentioned. I am aware that Debora Bridges is widely known and admired (including by me) for her work in raising awareness of the tablets. There have been past news reports that the Jones Library has been looked at as a reasonable place to display the tablets, and Sharon Sharry also alluded to this at a recent JLBC meeting. It was not specified at your meeting where Debora is interested in tabling at the outreach event. If I erred in connecting the dots, I apologize and stand corrected.
Regarding Xander Lopez’s suggestion to “reach out to those people who felt that they were excluded from the conversation,” you are also correct that you followed by saying that “two of those people will be helping with the tables.” However, these individuals were not identified, and it appeared to me that Xander’s suggestion to reach out to the folks who were “putting up signs that said vote no” was not met with meaningful consideration.
People can interpret the discussion for themselves, beginning at https://youtu.be/V_nudwRFII4?t=1286.
If you have personally been involved with outreach efforts to people who may be skeptical of the library project, I appreciate your commitment to openness and balance.
Thanks for this link, Jeff. I urge everyone to watch it. You’ll see that Alex Lefebvre reaffirms that there are actually few to no decisions left to be made about the demolition/expansion. The square footage and program are set in stone. The architects will decide the building layout. Perhaps the Trustees are looking for help raising the $6 million in private donations they’ve been touting.