Weston’s Wilder Library gets $650,000 grant for addition, upgrades to entire site

By Cynthia Prairie
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The Wilder Memorial Library in Weston has received a federal grant of $650,000 to support renovations to the 200-year-old brick structure and add 1,300 square feet of space in a new addition. The monies were awarded by the Vermont Department of Libraries, which was responsible for awarding $16.4 million to 14 libraries throughout the state for capital improvements.

The Wilder grant and donations that have been given by community members will help fulfill the long-desired goals of the library Board of Trustees and the Weston community to add a bathroom and running water to facility, which it has never had. The monies will also make the facility ADA compliant, offer a flexible community area in the new space, add HVAC systems, upgrade the electrical system as well as install high-speed broadband access.

In an interview on Monday, Deborah Granquist, chair of Wilder’s Board of Trustees, said that, following a statewide search, the board has hired architect Ryan Foster of Foster Architecture. “We’re happy to award the contract to a local person,” she said of Foster, who grew up in Weston and now lives in Landgrove.

The design, she added, is nearing finalization and the trustees, just last week, went before the Weston Development Review Board for approval. The trustees expect a decision “in the near future.”  The project still must go out for bid. While the trustees had hoped to break ground this fall, “the fall is quickly closing in on us. … if we can break ground this fall we will,” Granquist said. Otherwise, it will occur in the spring.

As for the original part of the building — a Victorian jewel box with elaborate fretwork, paneled ceilings and stained glass that has been a library since the 1900s, “it will essentially be the same,” Granquist said. The circulation desk, however, will be moved to the new section, freeing up space on the main floor of the old section.

The addition will be in the back of the existing building, and will only be visible from the side. A new entrance will be created and eight parking spaces — one ADA compliant — will be added. The existing entrance will still be usable. “We are replicating to a certain extent some of the truss work” of the original building, Granquist said.

One of the most important features of the new space will be its flexibility, with moving shelving units that can make way for a community gathering space. “Not having a bathroom, water and air conditioning make it difficult for people to be there (in the building) for an extended period of time,” she said.  “This will give the town that needed space.”    As for flood resilience — a major concern for the town that has experienced catastrophic flooding recent years — the building itself sits just above the West River and is not in a flood plain. The new section will also not have a basement.

The library will continue to be an internet hub. Granquist said during the pandemic it wasn’t unusual for people to park at the library to take advantage of its Wi-fi while sitting in their cars.  The new addition will also bring high-speed Broadband service.

You can follow the progress of the Wilder project by clicking here.

The 13 other libraries, with awards of $174,502 to $1.5 million, and their projects are:

Library: Alice M. Ward Memorial Library
City: Canaan
County: Essex
Award: $900,000
Project: Interior renovations for ADA compliance and improved patron centered usability, new HVAC system, new windows

Library: Arvin A. Brown Public Library
City: Richford
County: Franklin
Award: $174,502
Project: Renovations to increase usable library space, new HVAC system, electrical system updates, new windows, and interior renovations for ADA compliance

Library: Bennington Free Library
City: Bennington
County: Bennington
Award: $1.5 million
Project: Building envelope repairs with new windows and insulation, new HVAC system with electrical system updates

Library: Brandon Free Public Library Inc.
City: Brandon
County: Rutland
Award: $1.4 million
Project: Installation of four-story elevator with renovations and improvements for ADA compliance, repair or replace windows for energy efficiency

Library: Brooks Memorial Library
City: Brattleboro
County: Windham
Award: $1.47 million
Project: Asbestos abatement and building envelope repairs with interior and exterior renovations for ADA compliance

Library: Grand Isle Free Library
City: Grand Isle
County: Grand Isle
Award: $1,500,000
Project: New library building construction

Library: Groton Free Public Library
City: Groton
County: Caledonia
Award: $522,043
Project: Building expansion and envelope repairs with renovations for ADA compliance, new HVAC system

Library: Jeudevine Memorial Library
City: Hardwick
County: Caledonia
Award: $725,000
Project: Library expansion with two-story addition, four ADA compliant bathrooms, HVAC plumbing and electrical updates

Library: Johnson Public Library
City: Johnson
County: Lamoille
Award: $1.5 million
Project: Relocate building away from flood zone with new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, construct an addition to existing building, renovations to egresses for ADA compliance

Library: Lawrence Memorial Library
City: Bristol
County: Addison
Award: $483,000
Project: New HVAC system, building envelope repairs for structural integrity, electrical and mechanical system updates

Library: Leach Public Library
City: Irasburg
County: Orleans
Award: $1.1 million
Project: Library expansion with two-story addition, new elevator, ADA compliant bathroom, and new HVAC system

Library: Middletown Springs Public Library
City: Middletown Springs
County: Rutland
Award: $1.3 million
Project: Renovate and upgrade library building infrastructure at new library site

Library: Salisbury Free Public Library
City: Salisbury
County: Addison
Award: $978,807
Project: Repair or replace HVAC system, new plumbing system, potable water, interior and exterior renovations for ADA compliance.