Status of the Project

November 1, 2024

The Army Corps of Engineers has started working on reconstructing the gabion wall of the West River next to the library.

The estimated completion date for the gabion wall project is late January 2025.

Thanks to our generous donors, the Town of Weston and a grant from the Vermont Department of Libraries, we’re on our way to construction!

Architect Ryan Foster presented the final design for the expanded library to the Selectboard and the Library Board in October after working with the Design and Build Committee. Ryan and engineer Ted Reeves have put together a bid package with construction drawings, site plan and specifications. The package has been distributed to several contractors who expressed interest and published on the Vermont State Business Registry and Bid System.

Bids are due by November 26th, and we will choose our construction general contractor before year end.

When will we break ground? The timing of the ground breaking will depend to a large extent on the work being done by the Army Corps of Engineers on the gabion wall that separates the library property from the West River. We expect that they will not be finished until well into winter, so it is likely that our general contractor will not break ground until March or April. But there will be much for the contractor to do between award and ground breaking, including the fabrication of the steel structural frame for the addition and procurement of many other components of the project.

Once in the ground, the construction should take from nine months to a year. Stay tuned!

-Deb Granquist, Chair, Board of Trustees

FACES ABOUT TOWN

The Library’s Board of Trustees has elected two new Trustees. Carolyn Mullet, Weston’s librarian for over 30 years, has been named an Honorary Trustee in recognition of her wonderful service to Weston in sustaining the library for the community.

New Trustee Gene Palma has become active in community organizations, having moved to Weston after a career as Chief Operating Officer in higher education for several decades, most recently at Adelphi University. Gene is excited to join the board because he recognizes the exciting potential a library has for being a vital community center.