PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Library will receive a $375,000 Heritage Capital Project Fund grant for its rehabilitation and expansion project.
“This is really good news,” said library Director Theresa Percy after last week’s notification.
“It gives us the ability to finish the seismic retrofit, and gives us leverage and momentum to raise more funds.”
The main library at 1120 Lawrence St. is closed during a seismic retrofit required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The books, DVDs and other materials of the library temporarily are housed at Mountain View Commons, 1919 Blaine St., and are expected to remain in that location at least until the end of 2012.
If money can be raised to fund a proposed new $2.5 million wing adjacent to the Carnegie building, the library materials could remain in the temporary location for another two years.
“It would be nice if we didn’t have to move twice,” Percy said.
The newly acquired grant funds will go toward renovation of the exterior of the Carnegie building and some interior upgrades, she said.
The state’s Heritage Capital Project Fund promotes environmental stewardship, heritage tourism, enrichment through arts and cultural practices, community engagement and the preservation of historic structures found across the state of Washington.
The library’s 100-year-old Carnegie building restoration project qualified for the allocation during last year’s legislative session, but legislators, citing a shortage of capital money, funded only the top nine of the approved projects on the list.
The library project was No. 10, just under the cutoff line, and Percy was told to wait another year.
The expansion project fundraising campaign has raised $700,000 of the $1 million private donation goal.
The remaining $1.5 million will be raised through corporate donations, Percy said.
Hoch Construction of Port Angeles was the winning bid for the seismic upgrade at $370,739, which includes the entire project.
A portion of the newly acquired money will be used to pay Hoch’s contract, Percy said.
To donate to the project, visit www.ptpubliclibrary.org.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
