Batavia Public Library getting a facelift

BATAVIA – The Batavia Public Library building façade is covered with scaffolding as workers give the structure a $1.2 million facelift.

Towering over the southeast corner of West Wilson Street and South Batavia Avenue, the library building is nearly 20 years old.

The work is designed to rehabilitate the brick and cast stone building exterior and more noticeably to repair the 64 window assemblies, many composed of eight glass panes.

In 2018, voters in the Batavia Library District narrowly approved a tax referendum that was effectively a tax swap.

Property owners in the library district were paying a 7-cent tax rate to repay the $8.8 million bond issue used to help finance construction of the building.

With the bonds about to be paid off and authorization for the rate set to expire, the Batavia Library Board asked for a 7-cent increase in its operations fund, which meant property owners would see no change on their tax bills.

Approval of that referendum gives the library an additional $600,000 a year in revenue that it is using to finance an ambitious program of repairs and improvements.

While the current façade improvement work is gaining plenty of attention from passersby, it is not the first project to be undertaken since passage of the referendum, nor will it be the last.

Library Director George Scheetz said the massive exterior columns at the building’s main entrance have been replaced. The original wooden columns were splitting and could no longer hold a coat of paint. They were replaced with fiberglass.

Likewise, rusting steel pedestrian handrails outside the building have been replaced with aluminum.

When constructing the building 20 years ago, compromises were made.

“It’s pretty clear that there were some shortcuts,” Scheetz said. “For what needed to be done, there wasn’t enough money.”

For the façade project, workers are repairing broken and cracked brick and cast stone. Even more labor-intensive is the window repair project.

Each of the windows is being removed and failed sealant joints repaired or replaced.

When reinstalling the windows, workers also are adding through-wall flashing below the cast-stone sills. The flashing was not originally included in the building’s construction.

At the moment, the popular reading room and a community meeting room on the west side of the building are closed as work crews make the window repairs.

The library also has replaced a key component in its heating and air conditioning system.

A loud condenser unit that had been located on the building’s lower level and which had been a source of irritation for employees and patrons alike has been replaced with an outdoor unit.

The total cost for that project was $320,000, said Library Finance Specialist Joe McKane.

Meanwhile, the library is now studying options for further repairs and improvements, Scheetz said, including replacement of the building’s aging telephone system.

Discussions also are centering on how to make better use of the 54,000-square-foot building space.

Scheetz said plans include increasing the number of private study rooms from the current four, reorienting the main floor and finding a new location for the cramped business office.

“The staff areas were undersized before the building opened,” Scheetz said.

Also looming ahead in the library’s planning will be replacement of the building’s roof in a few years, Scheetz said.

“We’re thankful to the community for approving the referendum,” Scheetz said. “It has made these improvements possible at all or allowed us to carry them out much sooner.”