The Mason County Public Library Board of Trustees contingently accepted Momentum Construction’s bid for the library renovations during a meeting on Tuesday.
The bid provided by Momentum, based in Lexington, was $3.9 million. They also provided a bid for the optional bookmobile garage in the amount of $167,000, but the board decided against building the garage through the same project.
“One thing I would recommend is not accepting the garage bids under this contract and holding off until we can, maybe, find a local contractor to finish that project. We could get smaller numbers by doing it that way,” Jeff Pearson, architect for the project, said.
According to Pearson, the bid is being accepted contingently upon double checking final information.
Pearson said the library expansion will include turning the existing children’s area into a community room that is larger than the current room, and moving the children’s area and teen center into the expanded area.
In that part of the library, there would also be an area for children’s programming, an office, storage room and a nursing area for mothers. A gallery/hallway will connect the new addition to the current area of the library on the inside.
A basement and a garage for the bookmobile will also be included in the construction plan, as well as a place for the bookmobile to back up to the library and load books, under cover, in order to keep library material from being damaged in case of poor weather, Pearson said.
“The truck would be protected from the weather under that cover, so the books won’t get wet or damaged,” he said.
Parrott said plans for the project have been sent to the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction in Frankfort for approval. It could take up to 16 weeks to receive the approval.
“Thankfully, we have some work that needs to be finished that does not require the approval,” he said. “We have about two months of external work that is just in moving lines. Once we receive the approval, we can start on the rest of the construction.”
Parrott said the renovations will be completed in phases in order minimize impact on people visiting the library as it will remain open for the duration of the renovations.
Phase one of the renovations is expected to take 280 days while the second phase is expected to take 120 days.
“At this point we will stay in the library during renovation, which will be done in phases,” Parrott said. “We will try to minimize impact and continue our normal service, but that will depend on construction. We’re staying in place because it appears to be the ‘least invasive’ method for us.”
Anyone who would like to look at the plans for the renovations can stop by the library. A copy of the blueprints is at the front desk.
“I keep telling people who haven’t been here for awhile to take pictures, because it won’t look anything like this when we’re finished,” he said. “We have a copy of the blueprints if anyone comes in and wants to know what it’s going to look like.”
Construction is expected to begin in spring and should take about one year to complete.
The cost of the project is estimated at $3.6 million funded by the library’s general fund. Those costs included site development, construction, modifications, temporary location rent and moving fees, engineering/architect costs and a contingency fund.
MCPL’s current facility was constructed in 1994. An addition was constructed in 2002.
