GREENFIELD — By the end of the day Wednesday, passersby may have noticed the new Greenfield Public Library on Main Street beginning to take shape.
“Steel is going up on the site,” Project Manager Daniel Pallotta told members of the Library Building Committee Thursday evening. “We’re putting them together piece by piece.”
To date, plumbing on the project is complete, with the exception of a small pump section of the elevator pit, Pallotta said. The underground electric work is also complete, with the exception of some branch circuitry that will go in once the rooms are laid out.
“We’re in great shape,” he said.
In 2019 — seven years after the vision for a new library was first discussed — Greenfield voters approved building a new library with a 61% positive vote. The $19.5 million appropriation accounts for construction costs as well the cost of the architect, project manager, furniture and fixtures, according to Library Building Committee Co-Chair Ed Berlin.
In addition to a $9.4 million grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the Greenfield Public Library Foundation had said it would contribute about $2 million, reducing the city’s cost to about $8.1 million. The foundation recently announced it had reached its $2 million goal. The library is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, according to city officials.
The process to erect the building on the site of the former Main Street fire station will take about two weeks, Pallotta said, followed by an additional two weeks to “straighten out the building.”
In other words, contractors will check that dimensions are correct and construction is ready to proceed.
“For this month, we’re only going to be doing steel out there, and a little bit of site work in the back by the bank parking lots,” he said.
Library Building Committee members expect next month’s meeting will be held in person. The location and date were still to be determined as of Thursday.
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne