The town closed the book on a proposed $34 million library project at its Fall Town Meeting Monday, forgoing a $9 million provisional grant provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners originally provided for the construction of a new library.
The proposal fell under Article 10 of the meeting’s warrant. The article addressed the allocation of funds for designing, constructing, furnishing, and equipping a new library. The article also included provisions for various project-related expenses, including demolition, hazardous materials remediation, and the creation of parking facilities.
523 residents gathered at the Lynnfield Middle School auditorium for a Town Meeting. The article required a two-thirds majority to pass. While 293 residents, a simple majority, voted to accept the grant, 230 rejected it, and it failed to pass the two-thirds threshold.
The Select Board and Finance Committee did not recommend the article’s approval, while the Planning Board recommended unanimously that the town accept the provisional grant.
Select Board member Dick Dalton said that the new library was not a “need” for the town, but a “want.”
The town is currently working on two other projects — the Public Safety Building project and the Lynnfield Elementary School project. According to Dalton, speaking on behalf of the board, those two projects are needed for the town.
“The new library’s initial construction cost was $18 million, with an MBLC grant of $9 million covering 44% of the expenses,” Dalton said. “However, the construction cost has now grown to $31 million, a 72% increase.”
According to the Select Board, taxpayers were originally supposed to contribute $10 million to the project. Now, due to the increased cost of construction, the amount they would have had to pay rose to $25 million.
Members of the Library Building Committee presented ideas for a new library building at the Town Meeting, emphasizing sustainability, inclusivity, and additional resources for readers and residents. Multiple residents showed support for the project.
“What this building would allow us to do is change the way we use library services,” Thomas Kayola said at Town Meeting. “Access to new technology, online courses, access to a 3D printer, and larger community spaces.”
The town also did not pass article 11 which would transfer land from the Meadow Golf Course to the Library Board of Trustees for the construction of the library. If the article would have passed, the New Library Building Project Committee would have asked the MBLC to extend the time period of the provisional grant and the town would have voted again on Article 10.
