PATTEN, Maine — Patten town officials provided an update on Veteran’s Memorial Library during the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The library has been closed since the beginning of October because it doesn’t meet the town’s building code requirements.
Town finance director Deborah Bivighouse said that the building has been visited and inspected by Jim Lord of Fairfield-based Dirigo Engineering, and that a proposal from the engineering firm could be expected by Dec. 11 that will help the town explore its options for what to do with the library.
“The big thing is that we will have some idea of what it will cost us, to at least detail what our options are that we’ll be able to take,” Bivighouse said.
Depending on what the report details, town officials will either seek to restore the building that the library occupies now — one of the oldest buildings in Patten — or perhaps seek to establish a new building where the library may locate.
Selectman Nate Richardson said the town had looked at other libraries in nearby towns, such as the one in Millinocket, to examine possibilities of what a new library would look like — just in case the repair costs for the current building prove to be too high.
“To me it was enlightening, it was different than what I expected a library to be,” Richardson said. “So I think those are some exciting things that we need to look at going forward. But [not] until we get those reports and then we come back and make a discussion about it.”
The selectmen’s meeting also featured Rae Bates, a library trustee and a member of the library’s board of directors, who voiced her appreciation for the update, and expressed the hope that other members of the community should have a say in the library’s future.
“Having been in school administration, I certainly know that the more people you bring to the table, the longer it takes to get some things accomplished,” she said. “But it also has a flip side of involving some community folks.”
In addition to the library, the town’s recreation center has also been closed since October due to building code issues. Town selectmen said that Dirigo Engineering had examined the rec center, and that individual plans for how to repair both locations would be decided once the Dec. 11 report is completed.
