It’s easy to overlook historical resources until they’re gone. Tearing down the Woodstock Library building, if a $5.8 million bond issue to fund a new library is approved by the voters on November 3, would take with it one of the oldest structures in town. The original doctor’s office — decorated with stars representing the States of the Union — was built in 1812, according to the late historian Alf Evers as written in his book, Woodstock, History of an American Town. Another writer of Woodstock history, Neva Shultis, also specified 1812 as the construction date in her book, From Sunset to Cock’s Crow.
An Architectural and Historical Overview of the Woodstock Library, the report contained in the Library board’s own documentation supporting their proposal to demolish the old and build new, presents a thorough case for historical conservation until the end, when the consultants, Larson Fisher Associates, take a dizzying turn and conclude that there’s no history worth preserving about the existing library building.
I speak for myself and do not represent the views of any organization. Restore and renovate, don’t demolish the Woodstock Library. Turn over the ballot and vote no.
Olivia Tinker Twine
Woodstock
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