The library’s eight-year journey for new space is now over after the board approved a contract to buy the building that formally housed the quilt shop during a special meeting Wednesday night.
The Library Board went into executive session for about 20 minutes to discuss the acquisition of the property at 736 Main St. that used to be home to Quilting Bits & Pieces before it closed last year. The store was owned and operated by Christina and Bill DeArmond.
Following the executive session, the board voted unanimously to approve the signing of a contract to purchase the building. The board will close on the property in 60 days.
The board is using its formerly fundraised capital campaign fund to pay for the purchase of the building, as well as some of the renovations that will follow, President Kenny Massey said. The purchase will not impact taxpayers, he said.
The board will pay $441,525 total for the building and the costs associated with Realtor consultations, Massey said. That leaves about $15,000 remaining in the capital campaign fund for renovations, he said.
The new building will be about four times the size of the existing building. The original building is 2,000 square feet, and the new building is about 8,000.
Laura Lewis attended the meeting as she is helping the board with the next steps in the process, like she did with the last capital campaign.
This includes getting a better understanding of the construction needs and what costs are necessary to make it a comfortable and accessible building, she said.
The board plans to fundraise the same way it did prior to the last proposed bond issue – with personal fundraising, Lewis said. There is also potential for some grant opportunities, she said.
“And then we would go to the community, the same community that helped raise these funds in the first place, to help fund things like furniture and shelving, and also use the talents of our community, people who know how to paint, you know, kind of transform this building into what the board and everyone expects,” she said.
Some of the major renovations the board foresees are ADA bathrooms, a fire door between the children’s area and main area, and new offices for staff – something they’ve never had before, Massey said.
When the board went to an election for the last bond issue for a new building in 2022, it did not pass, and many cited their disapproval was because of its size and over $4 million cost.
This purchase is a win for the community because it gives residents what they wanted in a library, but at no additional cost to them, board members said Wednesday night.
The biggest thing they heard following the last bond being voted down was residents asking why the library didn’t just use the money they already raised, board member Eric Magette said.
“We have a chance here to, number one, solve a problem that, you know, that we need more library space, but we have a chance to do it in a way that looks to the future that gives us some room to grow into and to do it without going into debt.” Magette said. “So we think this is a really good compromise that has come out of eight years of really, really hard work.”
The library is getting a larger building for possibly less than one tenth of what it would cost to build a new one, board member Tim Pringle said. When the board went out for the last bond, it was around $4 million, which would be significantly higher today, he said.
‘The library is going to be able to provide more services with a larger building, and again, no cost to the community. So it’s a win-win for the people here,” Pringle said. “This board has looked out for the people in this community and tried to do what’s best for the taxpayers and for the library.”
Negotiations on the building have been ongoing throughout the summer, but the board first toured the building in February. The DeArmonds did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.
The larger space will give the library more opportunities for a wider variety of programming, Executive Director Carol Wohlford said.
“We just have so much back here, holding back that we want to do, and the staff will be so excited that we’ll get to go into that new programming,” Wohlford said.
After the board closes on the building, they will start working with an architect on renovation plans and rejuvenate fundraising efforts, Massey said.
Massey also noted that the board and previous boards have worked hard to make sure money is put back into the capital campaign and capital improvement fund, which will help with this process, as well.
The Library Board also has been discussing a mill levy increase at recent meetings to help with increased costs. At the most recent meeting, the board discussed an increase from the current 3.19 mills to 3.72. The board said at the time of the meeting that the budget would include a contingency for if the library purchased the new building. Massey said Wednesday night the budget will include an increase of a little more than a half mill on par with the previously discussed 3.72 mills.
“I think we need to add that this board and prior boards have been very diligent on the funds that have been put back each year. We have funds in the capital campaign fund and the Capital Improvement Fund at the bank here in Eudora that we can use as we move forward. So there’s just been a lot of positives out of the whole thing,” Massey said.
