One of the most discussed items on the 28-article warrant at Monument Mountain Regional High School was the appropriation of $150,000 to apply for a state grant aimed at rehabilitating a public library in the village of Housatonic.
Chair of the Great Barrington libraries board of trustees G. Patrick Hollenbeck explained that Massachusetts would contribute $100,000 to the effort if the town approved the spending.
“This is not for the construction of Ramsdell Library," he explained. "That that comes down the road. This is just the planning and design phase. The other phase, if we get that far, we'd be in the spring of 2026- So, we have another town meeting to look forward to. What happens if it doesn't get approved tonight? It means we can’t apply for the grant. This grant round only occurs every eight to 10 years. The last grant round was in 2016, and therefore, the next potential round is in 2032.”
Hollenbeck said Great Barrington would only see the money released if the grant bid managed to get past the application round.
The almost 120-year-old Ramsdell Library was designed by McLean & Wright and joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. It was gifted to the town by T. Ellis Ramsdell at the bequest of his father Theodore, who owned the Monument Mills in the heart of Housatonic. While in many ways the picturesque small-town New England library with its Ionic columns and dramatic pediment, the building – last renovated in 1928 – is in dire need of an update.
“As you can see, the bathroom, we have this beautiful ramp that's going up to the library- But once you get in, if you need to use the bathroom, good luck, because you can't turn around. The stacks are too narrow for anyone with a wheelchair, and as you can see the basement area has been flooded multiple times," said libraries board of trustees member Ruby Chang. “There's no elevator, there's no compliant stairs, handrails, doorways. Noncompliant restrooms, no parking, and so forth. Expense, it’s is very expensive to run it. As you can see, we don't have ventilation and centralized AC, which means that during COVID pandemic, we are not safe in such a building. We’re not safe in that building because of ventilation issues, and we don't have central air. We have outdated codes for electrical, as well as leaks in the walls and the roofs, and no fire protection. And we use fossil fuel to heat which is prohibitively expensive. And the building, obviously, is uninsulated.”
Chang told the assemblage that with the millions the project could potentially secure from the state grant, Ramsdell could become the library Housatonic needs today.
“We're looking for some place that has a community gathering spot," she said. "And again, most people who oppose of this renovation will say, why do we need two libraries? Why do we need two parks? Why do we need two trails for walking? All of these facilities are to improve our lives.”
Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Karen Smith spoke out against the plan.
“I do not believe that we as a municipality can afford to maintain two libraries, and I think, all well and good, the cost of this building that they're talking about, I know you don't have any numbers, but I'm going to bet it’s somewhere north of $6 million to $8 million, somewhere in that neighborhood," she said. "$3 million of that still needs a balance of $5 million. That's the number that we're going to have to put up. The $3 million is a great thing from the state. But where are we supposed to come up with all the other things that we'd have to do, that amount of money? I just think it's ill thought.”
Resident Michelle Loubert disagreed.
“When it comes time to trim the budget, why is it Housatonic that gets the short end of the stick each and every time? I think it's a sad state of affairs,” she said before being cut off by applause. “Thank you. I think it's a sad state of affairs where we're talking about shuttering a library. We already shuttered a school, and it took us years to bring it back up, it's starting to be renovated now. Are we going again, and going to do the same thing to the library, and somebody can shake their head, but we're going down that road.”
Great Barrington voters overwhelming approved a slightly amended version of the article. The town will return to residents with a separate request for spending on construction should the Ramsdell Library rehabilitation project move forward.
Voters also approved 26 of the other 27 articles on the warrant, including a steep increase in spending that will see median home owners pay an additional $500 a year in taxes.
