On July 8, 2008, members of the Board of Trustees of the Pleasant Valley Free Library and members of the committee raising funds for building expansion met with the Pleasant Valley Town Planning Board for the first time. I listened with alarm to the scary formal part of the meeting, where the Planning Board closely examined the petitioners about parking spaces, sight lines, and signs. But we were just there for discussion of the general idea for our planned expansion. This concept is shown at the right in sketches of three views: Front, Side, and Back. We want to maintain the appearance of our 19th-century library home with the expanded building, replacing the current one-story wing with a new two-story wing that extends out toward Main Street. It will be, as some have said, "the Library of seven gables."The Planning Board is clearly excited by the concept for the expanded Manse and they encouraged us to go forward. They loved the notion of a plaza in the "L" of the expanded building. I mentioned that one of the arches from the old Pleasant Valley Mill has been stored disassembled and can be re-erected as part of the entrance, which surprised and delighted them. They approved of our extending the building forward to be closer to Main Street, which also fits with the long-range plan for Pleasant Valley. We discussed ideas for expanding parking, which will be the subject of a later post. Most of all the Planning Board agreed that keeping the Library building where it is in the center of the hamlet and maintaining the architectural look is essential. The expanded building will be a spur toward revitalizing the hamlet and pointing the way toward a future that preserves the best of the past.
The members of the Planning Board offered to help the Library in any way they can and also directed us to some of the steps we will need to take along the way. It was a great session.
With this informal discussion behind us, I can look forward to our formal sessions with anticipation instead of nervousness. But we need to raise a substantial amount of money for this project before it can proceed much farther.
1 comment:
The library expansion sounds like an exciting project indeed! I wish you all much success with it. I think you bring up an important point about the library's importance to the revitalization to the community. In my visits to downtown Pleasant Valley, I see the domination of a couple of shopping centers, but there's also a downtown somewhere in there as well! The reality is that most residents live far enough away that they'd need to drive to get to the town center. But it would be nice if they could park somewhere and do their errands on foot, strolling from the library to the farmer's market, to other stores, and maybe stop somewhere for lunch or coffee.
I'm looking forward to more of your updates.
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