The Woodstock Library Board of Trustees voted to approve the Joel Sanders Architect design for its proposed Annex, a free standing building on the bank of the Tannery Brook on Library Lane, where the Woodstock Laundromat used to be. The board also concluded at its November 20 meeting to conduct a pre-campaign outreach study to gauge local and regional support for the project.
“What the Board did on Wednesday evening was an important step in realizing the Annex Project,” said Stuart Auchincloss, President of the Library Board of Trustees. “After all, we’re not just building an Annex, we’re building an institution.”
In related action the Board retained Hartley Consulting, Inc. to conduct the capital campaign study in collaboration with Kim Alderman, who has been consulting with the Library on fundraising since the purchase of the property in 2012.
According to Library Director Amy Raff, the approved design has a total cost of $1.5 million, which Raff says “includes hard costs, soft costs and owner costs,” though it is still an estimate. But that estimate comes from a “professional cost estimator,” and has been subject to a process of “value engineering.”
The funding for the project will be pursued through a fundraising plan that “will determine our time frame for construction documents, groundbreaking and construction.”
The centerpiece of the fundraising will be through a major gifts campaign. The library also says it will also pursue grants from the state and foundations.
Its first step, according to Raff, will be to do a pre-campaign outreach study to ensure that the money can be raised. She said that the study will take about 4 months.
The Library, as a public entity is legally bound by the state’s Wick’s Law — paying prevailing wages and is obligated by that statute to take the lowest, responsible bidder from the competitive process.
1100 square foot roof deck
According to Raff, the “scope of the project has increased since our initial RFP. The square footage of the building has almost doubled.” She said that it now includes usable outdoor space and the building itself will help remediate the deteriorating wetlands situation on the site.
“The vision for the Library Annex is to create a 21st century learning environment,” said Raff, “with spaces for groups to meet, to learn, to be inspired and incubate new ideas, all contributing to a thriving local economy and community. The new annex design accomplishes this and more, both inside and out. It is a functional, practical yet elegant and innovative way to situate a building next to Tannery Brook.”
The design by Joel Sanders Architect turns the building itself into a bio-filtration system, carefully collecting and filtering rain-water runoff before it enters the waterway. The design also adds approximately 2000 sq. ft. of outdoor spaces, including a patio sitting/reading area over the Tannery Brook and an 1100 square foot roof deck.
“The design looks towards the future, to be functional and sustainable for current and future use, bringing a modern sensibility to Woodstock and the region,” Raff said.
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