Home Community Community News Southold Library plans ‘historic renovation’ of 126-year-old building

Southold Library plans ‘historic renovation’ of 126-year-old building

Architectural rendering of children's room. Vincent Benic Architect

Southold Library is proposing a $1.75 million dollar historic renovation and is asking the community to approve a budget increase to fund it.

“The building needs updating and the community is going to benefit immensely with an updated library in terms of the services we can offer,” said library director Caroline MacArthur.

In addition to reorganizing interior space at the library, MacArthur hopes to bring back the historic beauty of the 126-year-old building by restoring the original wood floor in the children’s room, cleaning up the woodwork and — she hopes — getting one or two of the four fireplaces into working order.

“The woodwork in the original part of the building is beautiful,” says MacArthur. “It takes my breath away when I see it. But it needs cleaning and preservation. Our architect is a preservation architect, and he’s worked in older buildings and in libraries, so we have confidence in him.”

The renovation will also create a teen space, something that is sorely needed, said MacArthur.

“There’s nowhere for them to go right now,” she said. “They can go upstairs, but that is a designated quiet area. It’s difficult to mix groups of teens with quiet.”

The proposed renovation will be executed on the existing footprint and focus on reorganizing the space and restoring the architectural details of the building. The adult area will be relocated to the main floor, the children’s room will move to the more spacious second floor and a teen area will be added, also upstairs. The community room will be renovated for better acoustics and aesthetics.

Architectural floor plan. Vincent Benic Architect

The library has raised nearly $1 million of the $1.75 million needed for the renovation and looks to borrow the remaining $750,000 to be repaid over five years. This will increase the budget by $150,000 a year for the next five years. This year’s proposed general operating budget is $877,925, which does not include the loan repayment.

Essential library services will move to Feather Hill during the renovation.

Architectural floor plan. Vincent Benic Architect

Presentations of the proposed renovation will be held on April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at Southold Free Library, and on May 3 at 7 p.m. at the Southold High School budget hearing. The budget vote will be held on May 16.

SOURCEKatharine Schroeder
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Katharine is a writer and photographer who has lived on the North Fork for nearly 40 years, except for three-plus years in Hong Kong a decade ago, working for the actor Jackie Chan. She lives in Cutchogue. Email Katharine