AMHERST — Around $2 million in historic tax credits sought for the $46.1 million expansion and renovation of the Jones Library will not be available after the project was deemed ineligible by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, whose staff are citing concerns about losing the “historic fabric” inside the building’s 1928 section and the addition’s large mass.

Brona Simon, the commission’s executive director, informed Library Director Sharon Sharry in an April 26 letter that “the proposed project does not meet the secretary of the interior’s standards for rehabilitation of historic properties as presented” and as reviewed under the Massachusetts Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program, based on staff examinations of interior and exterior changes.

Simon’s communication notes that several standards won’t be met, including that the “historic character of a property will be retained and preserved,” “deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced,” and “new additions, exterior alterations or related new construction will not destroy historic materials, features and spatial relationships that characterize the property.”

Town officials explained in an initial February response to these concerns, when the application was initially rejected, that the project is being done to meet Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners standards, based on the $13.8 million grant and a $1.69 million “pandemic escalation” boost and the community’s needs for the future, and that the project had been reviewed and approved by the town’s Historical Commission under terms of an historic preservation agreement. Town officials also detailed how and where new construction would be seen from Amity Street, the historic side of the building.

The tax credits had been viewed as a good source of money because the Jones Library is located within Amherst Central Business District, a district listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Ginny Hamilton, the manager for the Jones Library Capital Campaign, said the expectation is that the funds will not be approved, even though the application is considered to still be pending.

But Hamilton said the decision by the state commission doesn’t affect the $9.6 million already committed for the project from other sources.

The letter from Simon also points to a historic structure report completed in 2022 that describes the original Jones Library building as having a formal center, smaller wings on either side that flank it, and an ell on the east “evocative of the rambling ells found on early dwelling houses of the area.” The letter notes that interior millwork, including mantels and wainscoting, that is “retained in very good condition considering their age.”

The concerns from the state agency focus on both the exterior and interior changes that would occur.

From the exterior, the large mass to be built after demolition of the 1990s addition would conceal the north side of the historic ell that faces the parking lot behind the CVS Pharmacy.

“The north elevation of the 1928 building ell will be completely covered with the new addition. The new addition will also be visible from the south elevation, which is the front facade,” Simon wrote.

The state commission recommends that the new addition be made visually subordinate by offsetting it, stepping it back or separating it.

From the interior, the change to circulation patterns is noted by Simon, and how “two sets of historic wood stairs in the original 1928 building are proposed to be removed, changing the circulation of the historic 1928 building. Additionally, other floor plan modifications will be made, causing the removal and loss of historic fabric.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.