Lee-Whedon gauging community support for $7-$9 million expansion
Library in Medina considering 2 options for addition, including meeting rooms, tutoring space and expanded children’s area
Passero Associates, an engineering and architectural firm in Rochester, has proposed an addition on the back side of the building on two lots recently acquired by the library along North Avenue. An arch and courtyard also are part of the proposal. A construction project at the library includes two large meeting rooms, two restrooms, three tutoring rooms, large programming area, teen room, Friends of the Library room, expanded children’s area, additional parking, expanded adult collection space, and a local history room.
MEDINA – Leaders of the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library want to push forward with a 3,844 addition on the library on West Avenue.
The building was constructed in 1966 at 11,000 square feet. The addition is planned for the back side of the building along North Avenue.
Estimates for the project range from $7 million to $9 million, depending on the scope of the work. A courtyard with an arch on the North Avenue side of the building could be eliminated to cut the costs.
The library is reaching out to some community members to get their feedback on the project, and whether it should be scaled back or not.
Passero Associates: The front side of the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library facing West venue would get a new entryway and bigger windows.
The 3,844-square-foot addition would add two much-needed meeting rooms, space for tutoring and more room for the collection and programs.
“We have a lot of organizations with no place to go,” said Cynthia Kiebala, president of the board of trustees for Lee-Whedon.
Right now there is a small meeting room that is also serves as a local history space and a “quiet room.”
The library was built in 1966 in an open style that was somewhat sterile and “blah” – a big, long room all painted in the same color of beige-yellow. A remodeling project in 2013 added “warmth” and technology. The walls were painted green, blue and yellow. The carpet has circles and other designs to help delineate spaces in the library. The library also added many pedant lights that hang from the ceiling.
The project also replaced the ceiling, and added many new high-speed Internet access points and upgraded computer technology.
Lee-Whedon has been feeling a space crunch and acquired two properties next door on North Avenue. The addition would add meeting rooms and tutoring space to make the site even more of an asset for the community, said Kristine Mostyn, the library director.
“This will certainly improve our ability to offer programming and educational services,” she said. “The meeting rooms could be used for organizations that have no other place to meet.”
Photos by Tom Rivers: Here is how the entrance of the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library currently looks. The 11,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1966. The library’s leaders would like to put on a 3,844-square-foot addition.
Kiebala said the big open space in the current setup doesn’t allow much privacy, especially for tutoring. Students come in for tutoring through BOCES, local school districts and the Orleans County Adult Learning Services (OCALS).
“We have tutoring going on all the time,” Kiebala said. “They have to sit out in the liobrary now.”
The capital project would make the building mor aesthetically appealing by putting an arch with pillars in the front entryway. Some of the solid brick walls would be changed for larger windows to allow in more existing light.
Lee-Whedon has applied for $4.125 million in grants and government aid so far. It has been approved for $625,000 in state library construction funding. Lee-Whedon also was the top vote-getter in a community survey for the $4.5 million NY Forward money. Lee-Whedon is seeking $500,000 through that $4.5 million. An announcement on how the money will be divvied up among Medina projects is expected in the spring 2024.
This photo from Jan. 13, 2017 shows a crowd watching the Don Newcomb Country Band for the “Finally Fridays” concert series.
The library also will be doing a capital campaign, seeking donations from the community. The are many naming opportunities that will be available, including for the different rooms, the addition, and the courtyard. The library, however, will not change from being known as the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library. A capital campaign is expected to start in early 2024. Kiebala is hopeful construction could start in the fall 2024.
“We want to make it happen,” she said.
The project would add more room for children’s programs and the overall collection. There also would be two more restrooms in the addition, and more parking on the North Avenue side of the building.
The scope of the project may be determined by a feasibility study currently under way. Lee-Whedon is working with Ivy Partners, the same group that helped Albion build the new Hoag Library that opened in 2012.
