The vote passed! Thank you, Cape Elizabeth!
On November 4, the voters approved the renovation plan, and the building committee and staff would like to thank the citizens of Cape Elizabeth for their ongoing support of the Thomas Memorial Library. Construction will begin very soon–in early 2015. From now until the end of December, we’ll begin the process of moving into our temporary space in the Spurwink School building (that part of the facility that houses the children’s area.)
We’re excited about the project! Come back to view this page often and we’ll keep you informed about our relocation, the progress of the construction activities, and our re-opening in early 2016. Thank you!
(Click the image to view our album of renovation photos!)
Construction News
Click on the links below to read the latest construction updates.
[catlist name=”renovation” numberposts=10 date=yes orderby date]
Preparing for Construction
(November 8, 2014)
Construction on the new Thomas Memorial Library will begin near the beginning of 2015. During the construction period, which is expected to take about a year, the library will be temporarily located entirely in the portion of the current building that now houses the children’s library. This portion of the building will become a stand-alone building, separated from what is currently the rest of the library. Much of the lobby and adult portion of the library will be torn down, and new construction will be built off of the front portion of that building. During the construction period, adult library materials and services will be relocated to what is now our Community Room. Children’s library programs will take place in what is now the picture book area of the children’s library. Young adult materials will be shelved in what is currently the children’s general fiction section.
Because the library will be temporarily housed in such a small space, much of our collections will need to be put in storage. During the next two months, library staff will be working to identify those items that will remain accessible to patrons and those that will be stored until the new library is complete. Because of this, our regular children’s programs (and some adult programs) will be suspended until after first of the year. Until then, we will do our best to provide a few programs for families that will require only a minimum of staff time. Our monthly music and Read to a Dog programs will continue, but we will also offer a number of “Stay & Play” programs while our Community Room is still accessible. Click here to view the upcoming children’s program schedule.
Once we are in settled in to our temporary quarters, we will resume a regular schedule of weekly story times for a variety of ages in our upstairs programming space. Our Read to a Dog program will take place upstairs in a quiet corner, and our monthly music programs will continue, but possibly in an alternate (as yet undetermined) location.
To view information about the history of the project, please visit the Library Renovation Archive page.