AMHERST — Repairs to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and fixes to the aging fire alert system and sprinklers are the most immediate upgrades that should be undertaken at the Jones Library, if a full-scale renovation and expansion of the 43 Amity St. building doesn’t happen.

With Town Manager Paul Bockelman announcing this week that he rejected the only general contractor bid for the $46.1 million project, and Jones Library trustees asking for an extension from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to the end of 2024 to be in a more favorable climate for project bids, the trustees’ Buildings and Facilities Committee is beginning discussion of a back-up, repair-only plan.

But Library Director Sharon Sharry and Facilities Director George Hicks-Richards cautioned at a meeting Tuesday that this “Plan B,” in which requests for specific capital needs would be prioritized, will be pricey, take time and require periodic building closures and moves off-site, based on reports completed by Western Builders of Granby in 2017 and updated by Kuhn Riddle Architects in 2020. The latest report, now four years old, shows that the costs would be in the range of $14.4 million to $16.8 million.

Sharry said that she anticipates a repair-only option would likely require more money from the town than the $15.8 million the Town Council has committed to the project. The project, also supported by a nearly two-to-one margin in a November 2021 referendum, would expand the building from 48,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet. Sharry said critics believe it will be more affordable to do repairs only since “the payments will be spread out over the next decade or so.”

She disputes that argument. “This process will take longer and cost a heck of a lot more money,” Sharry said.

Still, with uncertainty hanging over the preferred project, Sharry and Hicks-Richards anticipate meeting with Bockelman to discuss the alternatives, which will likely have to be done piecemeal.

“We don’t have time to do an overall picture,” Sharry said.

Library officials have been trying to avoid going to the Joint Capital Planning Committee for emergency repairs because overhauling the HVAC system and fire alert system and sprinklers are major needs, and, in the case of the HVAC, an architect would have to be hired to develop a plan and design.

Hicks-Richards said support from Bockelman will be needed for the approach taken.

“It’s a big chunk of money, but I don't think we’d be able to go forward with that unless we had the town’s support,” Hicks-Richards said.

Hicks-Richards explained some of the other challenges with the building, including the glass atrium that was part of the 1993 addition. Being on the roof recently, he noticed the glazing is dried and cracked and that the windows remain susceptible to leaks during wet and snowy weather.

Also, with the transition from the winter and spring seasons to summer and fall, getting the cooling system up and running is never easy. The pipes and valves are from the 1990s renovation, and several large valves have either been stuck or do not open and close properly.

Hicks-Richards said to make repairs can be expensive because of the need to shut off the water main, or remove walls or ceilings to reach the problem areas. There is also the issue that there is significant asbestos in the building, with Sharry noting that any time a hole is poked in the wall there is risk of exposing asbestos. 

Even should the repairs and renovations happen at the building, Hicks-Richards said the town won’t get to the climate-friendly site that town officials have sought, and the public has largely supported, as heat pumps, solar or anything else to reduce fossil fuel use won’t be used.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com