Staff writer
Readers and residents will no doubt notice a little more activity than usual at the Marion City Library this week. Builders plan to commence with construction on the new addition.
“I’m going to break grass this week,” Davey Hett of Hett Construction said.
Hett was outside the library taking measurements and discussing the finer points of the project with Darin Neufeld of EBH and Associates on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be about a 30-by-40 foot addition,” Neufeld said. “There will be a meeting room that is roughly 30-by-30 feet.”
“The meeting room will be wired for technology,” Hett said.
The rest of the space will be a mechanical room and a handicap-accessible certified bathroom, Neufeld said. There will be a breezeway connecting the new structure to the southeast door of the library.
Using brick and concrete, the front of the addition will be constructed to match the existing library and situated facing the courtyard, Nuelfeld said. The back will be composed of corrugated metal, a more economical material.
Library director Janet Marler said no tax or city money was used to finance the addition. Funds were raised via donations, memorials, and several fundraisers over about a six-year period.