By: Alexander Thomas | Posted: Feb. 12, 2018 | Source: WCHS News Network
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Reflecting remarks made last week by Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper, Kanawha County Public Library Director Alan Englebert said a temporary library in Clendenin would be operational in 90 to 100 days.
The library Board of Directors announced in December it plans to enter an agreement to rent the first floor of the Clendenin Middle School building for a temporary space. The board is still working on reaching a deal with 25404 A New Clendenin Inc., who owns the property.
Carper said last week a library could open by late May.
Englebert said when it comes to construction, additional work includes removing unneeded walls from the space as well as installing electricity and air conditioning.
“They’ll have to rewire the whole place and put in new lighting and a new HVAC system, so it’s going to take a lot of time to get that accomplished,” he said.
According to Englebert, the commission is coordinating most of the related work for the project.
“We’re very appreciative that they’re doing all that work and that they’ve allocated $50,000 towards the completion of it,” he added. “We’re not sure that that’ll actually cover all the expenses, and it may be that the library will have to step up a little bit to complete the temporary quarters.”
The commission voted in January to set aside $50,000 for preparing a section of the former middle school for library purposes.
The temporary site would be furnished with equipment from other county libraries. Englebert said previous employees of the library still work for the system, though funds are already allocated if additional staff need to be hired.
