GREENFIELD — Early results of a fundraising feasibility study for the town’s new library look promising, according to an agency working to determine how much might be raised for the project through private donations.
Matthew Blumenfeld, principal of Financial Development Agency Inc., said the Amherst agency, which was hired by the library, is in the process of writing recommendations for a capital campaign to raise money for the new building. The town is hoping to use a combination of state and municipal funds to pay for the project, as well as private donations.
“We’ve interviewed something like 60 people from across the community, and folks generally really like the project and are supportive of it,” Blumenfeld said. “Greenfield is proving to likely be a generous community toward this project.”
The agency tested for a goal of $3 million over five years, although Blumenfeld said he’s not sure whether that will be the recommendation the agency presents to the Library Board of Trustees during its next meeting.
The library is also in the process of applying for a Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners grant, which could fund half the vertical cost of the building. The application is due in January and the town will hear back by July. Doris Cowdrey, chairwoman of the Library Board of Trustees, said the board is very optimistic that the town will receive the grant.
“There are a number of us working very diligently to make sure that the town’s portion of this building is as minimal as it’s possible to get it to be,” she added. “We would be looking for other grant funding sources.”
The new library is to be built next to the current library, which occupies a historic colonial home on Main Street but is cramped and lacks the modern amenities and space typical of newer libraries. That means the library would be on the site of the current fire station, which town planners also hope to replace with a larger combined police and fire station elsewhere in town.
Cowdrey said it’s too early to speculate on the cost of a new library because the architect has more work to do before estimates can be developed.
Library Director Ellen Boyer said the current plans are for a 26,800-square-foot building. The existing library is 15,253 square feet.
“It will be very welcoming. It will be open and light. It will be just fantastic,” Cowdrey said of the new building. “There’s going to be a really fantastic children’s section. There will be a really, really nice teen space dedicated just for teens. Certainly there will be more computers than we have in our current building.”
She said plans for the building also include a room where patrons can bring food and can browse through magazines, as well as two community rooms that will be open to the public after normal library hours.
“The other thing that’s really fun, I think, is there are going to be some private study rooms,” Cowdrey said. “If you’re a homeschooler, for example, you can take your child to the library and book one of these rooms.”
The new building is being designed by Johnson Roberts Associates of Somerville. If everything goes smoothly, Cowdrey said the town could break ground in 2020.
You can reach Aviva Luttrell at: aluttrell@recorder.com