The Mahomet Library project will be under way with a groundbreaking ceremony set for 1 p.m. Saturday. The library staff and board of trustees are inviting all Mahomet residents to bring shovels to the new library site, east of Sandy Ridge Subdivision on U.S. 150. The Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School choir will perform at 1:15 p.m., and former Gov. Jim Edgar will give a keynote address at 1:25 p.m. Refreshments will follow the ceremony. The current public library will close during the ceremony, so staff members can attend.
"We're going to put the shovels in that dirt. It'll just be a very, very exciting time," said June Holmes, library board president. "I keep telling everybody it's not just for the library; it's for the whole community."
Library trustees still have some important decisions to make before construction can begin. They did not vote to award a contract to a general contractor at a special board meeting Wednesday.
According to Holmes, the trustees received 17 bids from general contractors. Trustees continued to receive recommendations and information from the library's architect, Mark Misselhorn, until late Wednesday afternoon. Trustees said they did not have enough time to review this data before the special meeting. Another special meeting has been set for 6 p.m. Monday to award a contract to a general contractor.
To help with costs for the new library, Lynn Schmit, library director, applied for and received one of only two Illinois Live and Learn Construction Grants worth $125,000.
Trustees are also planning fundraising events during the summer.
Holmes said it's possible that engraved bricks would be sold to library patrons and displayed in an outdoor reading area at the new library.
Anyone interested in the new library project can follow updates on the library's blog, http://newmahometpubliclibrary.blogspot.com/, and become a fan of the Mahomet Public Library on Facebook.
Comments