Seekonk Residents to Get Preview of the New Library Design

Seekonk residents will see the proposed design for a new Seekonk Public Library at a special preview on Wednesday, November 16. Members of the design team from Tappe Architects will take viewers through the design. The design being presented offers the clearest view yet of how a future library might look. The meeting will start at 7:00 PM in the library’s multi-purpose room.

The architects have been working with the Library Facilities Study Committee since September 2015 to design a building that will meet the community’s library service needs. The upcoming design preview is the fifth in a series of public meetings that the Library Facilities Study Committee held over the course of the yearlong design process. In addition to the public meetings, Seekonk residents of all ages contributed by participating in focus groups and an opinion survey. Jeff Hoover, the lead architect on the project, said that he and his colleagues are impressed with level of local involvement in the design.

The Library Facilities Study Committee will be submitting the design as part of its report to the November 28 Town Meeting. Article 11 on the Town Meeting Warrant asks voters to accept the design and to grant the town permission to apply to the state for a public library Construction Grant. Passing Article 11 will not appropriate any funding for the project or commit the town financially to the building project. This will happen at a later Town Meeting.

Construction Grant applications are due at the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners in January 2017. The state will announce the grant awards in July 2017. If Seekonk’s application is successful, the project management firm working with the Library Facilities Study Committee estimates that the state grant will cover 48% of projected construction costs.

The Library Facilities Study Committee and the Board of Library Trustees anticipate that the request for local funds will come in the fall of 2017, after the town learns if it has received a state construction grant. Seekonk will be competing with an estimated thirty-four communities for one of the grants.