Trustees heed state agency, agree to slate roof for Jones Library project

The roof on the historic portion of the Jones Library is slate.

The roof on the historic portion of the Jones Library is slate.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Staff Writer

Published: 01-08-2025 1:25 PM

AMHERST — Responding to Massachusetts Historical Commission concerns about aspects of the planned expansion and renovation of the Jones Library, library officials are recommending a new slate roof be installed on the historic portion of the building, and that a book drop cut into the front facade be removed from the plans.

With estimates that a slate roof instead of a synthetic roof will add about $200,000 to the cost of the $46.1 million project, along with minimal savings from eliminating the book drop, Jones Library trustees voted unanimously Wednesday, with member Eugene Goffredo abstaining from the votes, in support of the changes.

The action at a brief virtual meeting, prompted by a Dec. 19 letter from Massachusetts Historical Commission Executive Director Brona Simon, is one of the final steps in what is known as the Section 106 process, which has included presenting to the state agency a so-called “alternatives analysis” that laid out the specifics of how the design choices in the plans developed by Finegold Alexander Architects of Boston were reached.

The Section 106 process calls for minimizing or avoiding adverse effects on the historic property from the $46.1 million project, and will lead to a memorandum of agreement spelling out the ways any adverse effects are minimized or avoided. It is required to access federal grants for the project, including a Challenge Infrastructure and Capacity Building grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as an Economic Development Initiative grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Section 106 review is also needed for the project to secure a hazardous waste removal permit from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Finegold Alexander’s plans are to enlarge the library, originally built in 1928, by demolishing a 1990s addition and then constructing a new addition, while also doing significant interior renovations. Fontaine Brothers Inc. of Springfield submitted the low $35.77 million construction bid to handle the work.

Trustees President Austin Sarat on Wednesday made the motions for the design changes and thanked Simon for the letter.

“Gratitude to Mass Historical Commission for focusing its attention, and I think we’re in a position where we can respond to the MHC,” Sarat said.

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Sarat said using natural slate roofing will increase costs, but won’t require raising any additional money through the capital campaign, and can also be done without rebidding the general contract.

“This motion is a response to Mass. Historical Commission, instead of going back to them and trying to explain to them why to use synthetic,” Sarat said.

Bob Pereint, special capital projects coordinator for the town, confirmed that communication from the state attorney general’s office indicates that rebidding of the entire project is not needed, even though the roofing portion of the project will go up by $175,000 to $200,000, based on the purchase and installation cost being about $25 more per square foot than synthetic.

Pereint said the town will either remove the roofing aspect from Fontaine Brothers’ general contract and rebid that through a standalone contract, or reject all roofing sub-bids for the entire project.

Meanwhile, the book drop’s removal would mean a small reduction in project costs, Pereint said. “We’re talking thousands of dollars, not even tens of thousands of dollars, in project costs,” Pereint said.

Library Director Sharon Sharry said the change will mean retaining the current after-hours book drop, located on the east end of the building at the secondary entrance.

The book drop removal will mostly affect patrons, Sharry said, since that part of the building, once the renovation and expansion is complete, will no longer be an entrance and exit to the building. For staff, the bigger concern was the removal from the plans of an automated book sorter for handling of materials.

“Operationally, it’s fine,” Sharry said.

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