Date: Fri 29-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

library-delay-closing

Full Text:

Town Will Be Library-less For Several Weeks

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The ribbon cutting ceremony at the grand re-opening of the Cyrenius H. Booth

Library will likely take place under the golden glow of autumn leaves.

Meanwhile, the temporary library quarters at Shelton House in Fairfield Hills

is closing down on Friday, August 29, leaving the town without a library for

the time being.

Town officials are hoping the library's $4.1 million construction project will

be complete by next week, so they can begin the long and arduous process of

restocking the Main Street building with books, furniture and staff.

This week, First Selectman Bob Cascella received a letter from general

contractor Building Technologies, Inc, of Prospect, reconfirming that the

building would be ready to go for its Certificate of Occupancy (CO) by next

week. That doesn't mean it will get it though, and Mr Cascella isn't holding

his breath that the project will be ready.

"We've been given a lot of promises and a lot of them haven't been kept," he

said.

The job was originally slated to be completed in June, then it was pushed back

to July, then August and now September.

"This is a day-to-day proposition. There are little items that need to be

completed," said Clerk of the Works Ed Callo. "They'll go for the CO next

week, but the building won't be finished."

Library furniture, which has been sitting in warehouses awaiting the library's

completion, has been ordered and is slated to arrive September 15.

Meanwhile, Library Director Janet Woycik announced this week that the town's

temporary library at Shelton House on the Fairfield Hills campus will have to

close up shop Friday as the state gets ready to shut off power to all

buildings on the grounds. The town will not have a library for about six weeks

until the renovated library reopens, probably sometime in mid-October.

In the meantime, library employees will be busy packing books up at Shelton

House and then completing the daunting task of restocking the shelves on Main

Street. Mrs Woycik figures that will take about three weeks.

"At this time there is no definite opening date. I assume it will take four to

five weeks to get everything set up and operational," she said.

Mrs Woycik said she expects the move to be a nightmare.

"Petco (the asbestos removal contractor) packed the books, but they're not in

the correct order. Fiction is in with biographies, along with mysteries and

large print books. It's going to be a major project to find the books and then

put them in the right place," she said.

The library's director said it was unfortunate that there would be no library,

but reminded residents that their library card could be used at any other

Connecticut library.

Books and other materials may be returned in the book drop outside Shelton

House until September 15. After that date, the book drop at the library on

Main Street should be operational, according to Mrs Woycik.