Marblehead library trustees push revise plans

MARBLEHEAD – Library trustees haven’t given up on their plans to renovate and redesign the lower level of the Abbot Public Library.Although funding for their plan to restore library access to the enclosed garden next to the building was voted down in a debt exclusion override election last June, Library Director Patricia Rogers and the trustees are going forward with designs that will turn the lower level of the library into a community center.Their Monday evening agenda included meetings with consultants who discussed redesigning the lower level and redecorating the library meeting room.The main section of the lower level currently includes a meeting room, children’s room, art gallery and a small food preparation area. It is accessible from a separate outer door next to the children’s room and by staircase and elevator from the second floor. There is also an emergency exit in the meeting room that leads directly outside.That level also includes a separate young adult room for reading, activities and Internet access. The young adult area can be accessed by stairs from the second-floor reading room and by the library elevator. Since the elevator has doors on both ends, teens can pass through it to the main section of the lower level.Scott Pollack and Larry Spang of Arrowstreet Inc. said the trustees have two choices: have the young adult area and meeting room trade spaces, or leave both areas where they are. The two areas are similar in size.Trustees voted to discuss the ideas further at their next meeting, June 6, and take what Chairman Phil Sweeney called “a field trip” to the lower level to see the rooms there first-hand before making any decisions.Pollack and Spang are working with a design class at Marblehead High, getting student ideas for a teen area at the library. The class is expected to continue next year. The consultants did not present a cost estimate for most of their changes, but said an elevator to access the library garden would cost $75,000-$100,000. The garden is currently accessed by ramp.”A lot of it (the design) has to do with your input,” Pollack told the trustees.Debra McGee of Harmony in Design shared her proposals for a color scheme change to “spruce up” the library meeting room. Her color choices included green to match the library garden, black iron work to match the garden gate and brick to match the library exterior.She said her color choices were designed to “soften the space and make it more user-friendly.” She estimated the cost of her changes at $4,200. The trustees postponed a decision on the design.