Former library may house city offices

    When the Washington Public Library moved its offices from Main Street to Washington Street on Oct. 1, a cloud of uncertainty was left hovering over the future of the former library building. The building, located on the northwest corner of Main Street and Second Avenue, is currently being used as the site of city council meetings.

    City Administrator Dave Plyman said that the council would continue to meet in the former library for the foreseeable future. He said the council is still mulling over its options as to how to utilize all the space in the building.

    Plyman said it is possible that the city will move some of its administrative offices to the former library. Plyman said the fire department, currently housed in a section of City Hall, does not have adequate space and would like to expand into parts of the building now occupied.

    ?The fire department does not have a meeting room for training,? said Plyman. ?We?re looking at expanding both the fire department?s and police department?s use of the current city hall, which would mean moving administrative offices such as the engineering department and the city clerk to the old library.?

    Plyman added that, while the council has made no decision yet, the relocation of the administrative offices to the old library is ?more likely than not.?

    Plyman said the city is not looking to sell the building because it would rather remodel a building it already owns than to construct a new one from scratch.

    ?The fire and police departments need additional space, and it would be more expensive for us to construct a new building than to use the one we have.?

    Plyman stated the city would meet with an architect this week to discuss the prospect of remodeling the library, and might consult one or two more firms in the near future.

    ?I suspect it will take a month or two to get an architect on board to see if we need to remodel,? said Plyman.

    Plyman said the library could use a tuneup in certain areas, but that he knows of no structural deficiencies in the building.

for the full story, see the Oct. 20 edition of The Washington Evening Journal