1982.11.03 _ Hart Library branch due for shoring up
Dublin Core
Title
1982.11.03 _ Hart Library branch due for shoring up
Creator
Cortissoz, Marie
Source
"John C. Hart Memorial Library Historical News Clippings" Binder, Volume 2, 1972 - 1990
Publisher
North County News
Date
1982-11-3
Rights
This item is made available for research and educational purposes by the John C. Hart Memorial Library. Rights status is not evaluated.
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Text
Coverage
Yorktown (N.Y. : Town)
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
The Yorktown Town Board decided last Wednesday to spend more than $14.000 to shore up the floor in the John C. Hart Memorial branch Library.
The extension. located in the Yorktown Community and Cultural Center (YCCC). Is now In violation of the state's building code. which requires that library floors have a load rating of at least 150 pounds per square foot. The library floor in the former Sixth Grade School is rated to withstand 61 pounds of pressure per square foot. an acceptable rating for a classroom but one that may leave the town liable in the event of a collapse.
Since the unacceptable rating was revealed. the Board has stressed that the floor poses no immediate danger. However, it did agree that the town would have to take some action to cover itself legally.
The councilmen first considered moving the branch to the basement of the YCCC. but Librarian Betty Stewart and members of the Friends of the Library came before the Board to ask for a different solution. They said that close proximity to the nutrition center. which is housed in the basement would create problems.
At the time. the Board agreed to a compromise. The library would stay on the second floor, giving up the smaller of its three rooms and the YCCC would pay to reinforce the floor out of its capital
budget. The councilmen told Stewart and YCCC Director Judy Ellison that rent money from the surrendered room would eventually offset the cost of the project. then estimated
to be $20.000.
After giving up the room, Stewart received an opinion from the engineering firm of Goldrich. Page and Thrapp that said the town could circumvent state law by changing the official name of the branch. If the library was designated as a "reading room." the
61-pound floor rating would satisfy the corresponding building code requirement. But. the firm reported, the library would have to reduce any six-level bookshelves to four levels.
Last Wednesday. Stewart told the Board that complying with these restrictions would reduce existing shelf space by 26 percent and would bar any future growth. If faced with that situation. she Said the library would have to· substantially cut adult services. rather than reducing the more popular children's portion of
the branch.
Citing a new estimate. Stewart called the original $20.000 projection high. She said that the reinforcing would actually cost between S l l.400 and 14.400. with the figures corresponding to the number of steel beams Installed under the floor.
The library had already fulfilled Its part of the earlier compromise by giving up a room. she observed. "I would think that your conscience should be bothering you a lot," she told Board members.
Shoring up the floor would give the library about two years before It again faces a growth problem. Stewart estimated.
Board members eventually agreed with the librarian and said that work should begin as soon as possible. They decided to approve the S 14.400 estimate, which will require Installation of only two support columns. In an attempt to keep the basement area affected desirable to prospective renters.
The decision ls "a commitment to keeping the library in the YCCC." Said Town Supervisor Nancy Elliott.
When the library reaches capacity. It can move into vacant portions of the building said Board members, suggesting the unused first floor corridor. Stewart is opposed to this. Library helpers would not be able to monitor the area, she said.
Both sides agreed that any discussion on the use of a hall
is at least a few years away, and they decided to hold their disagreements until that time.
The extension. located in the Yorktown Community and Cultural Center (YCCC). Is now In violation of the state's building code. which requires that library floors have a load rating of at least 150 pounds per square foot. The library floor in the former Sixth Grade School is rated to withstand 61 pounds of pressure per square foot. an acceptable rating for a classroom but one that may leave the town liable in the event of a collapse.
Since the unacceptable rating was revealed. the Board has stressed that the floor poses no immediate danger. However, it did agree that the town would have to take some action to cover itself legally.
The councilmen first considered moving the branch to the basement of the YCCC. but Librarian Betty Stewart and members of the Friends of the Library came before the Board to ask for a different solution. They said that close proximity to the nutrition center. which is housed in the basement would create problems.
At the time. the Board agreed to a compromise. The library would stay on the second floor, giving up the smaller of its three rooms and the YCCC would pay to reinforce the floor out of its capital
budget. The councilmen told Stewart and YCCC Director Judy Ellison that rent money from the surrendered room would eventually offset the cost of the project. then estimated
to be $20.000.
After giving up the room, Stewart received an opinion from the engineering firm of Goldrich. Page and Thrapp that said the town could circumvent state law by changing the official name of the branch. If the library was designated as a "reading room." the
61-pound floor rating would satisfy the corresponding building code requirement. But. the firm reported, the library would have to reduce any six-level bookshelves to four levels.
Last Wednesday. Stewart told the Board that complying with these restrictions would reduce existing shelf space by 26 percent and would bar any future growth. If faced with that situation. she Said the library would have to· substantially cut adult services. rather than reducing the more popular children's portion of
the branch.
Citing a new estimate. Stewart called the original $20.000 projection high. She said that the reinforcing would actually cost between S l l.400 and 14.400. with the figures corresponding to the number of steel beams Installed under the floor.
The library had already fulfilled Its part of the earlier compromise by giving up a room. she observed. "I would think that your conscience should be bothering you a lot," she told Board members.
Shoring up the floor would give the library about two years before It again faces a growth problem. Stewart estimated.
Board members eventually agreed with the librarian and said that work should begin as soon as possible. They decided to approve the S 14.400 estimate, which will require Installation of only two support columns. In an attempt to keep the basement area affected desirable to prospective renters.
The decision ls "a commitment to keeping the library in the YCCC." Said Town Supervisor Nancy Elliott.
When the library reaches capacity. It can move into vacant portions of the building said Board members, suggesting the unused first floor corridor. Stewart is opposed to this. Library helpers would not be able to monitor the area, she said.
Both sides agreed that any discussion on the use of a hall
is at least a few years away, and they decided to hold their disagreements until that time.
Original Format
News Clippings
Files
Citation
Cortissoz, Marie, “1982.11.03 _ Hart Library branch due for shoring up,” John C Hart Library Archive, accessed May 7, 2024, https://hartarchive.omeka.net/items/show/156.