AMHERST — Losing two interior staircases and some original woodwork from the original 1928 Jones Library building, along with the proposed addition’s size, scale and “massing,” remain adverse effects to be resolved before the $46.1 million expansion and renovation project moves forward.
At the second and final “Meeting of the Consulting Parties” Monday afternoon, bringing together numerous town and state officials and residents to participate in the federal Section 106 review, more than two hours of input was gathered toward putting together a memorandum of agreement that will outline mitigation measures.
The memorandum is to be written for the town with assistance from Virginia H. Adams, senior architectural historian at The Public Archaeology Laboratory in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
While the town has resolved to mitigate the adverse effects through photographs, interpretive displays and rehabilitation of the remaining historic “fabric” of the building, some of those offering input are suggesting more significant measures that would necessitate changes in design plans.
The plans developed by Finegold Alexander Architects would enlarge the building from 48,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet.
Kent Faerber, who is co-chairing the Jones Library Capital Campaign Committee, said the town must have a much bigger library to meet the needs of the community, so scaling back the project is not appropriate. “Shrinking the size of this addition is just not possible,” Faerber said.
Tony Maroulis, representing both the Amherst Business Improvement District and the University of Massachusetts, said the project as envisioned is needed. “The benefits far outweigh the impacts,” Maroulis said.
Others, though, like Hetty Startup, a member of the town Historical Commission, and Elizabeth Sharpe, a member of the Local Historical District Commission, suggested measures that would minimize the impact of the addition. Sharpe said there is a need to visually understand the difference between the old part of the building and the new section, which could be done through some form of better separation.
Sharpe also asked that shutters be restored to the building and to have a proper “pineapple” on the historic pediment of the front door.
Amherst Historic Preservation Coalition member Jeff Lee said the “massing” of the addition is out of scale, so the building should be downsized, and modern materials should be avoided, while all the Philippines mahogany wood should be preserved.
What will be written into the memorandum of agreement is uncertain, but the town has until the end of March to have it filed, based on an extension provided the town by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
While critics have pointed to concerns from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, which is one of the consulting parties, its Executive Director Brona Simon cautioned that the state agency’s input in the federal Section 106 review is no more important than others.
Even so, library trustees recently acted on a letter from Simon to make two changes: to install slate rather than replica slate on the historic portion of the building, and to remove a book drop that would have been cut into the front facade.
Simon said she is still reviewing dozens of comments and have not yet drafted a response to project proponents, but is looking forward to further consultation to resolve adverse effects.
MBLC building consultant Andrea Bono-Bunker acknowledged there is a “delicate balance” between preserving historic aspects of the original building and creating a modern library, with occasional conflict coming from such needs as having sightlines that improve safety for the staff and patrons.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
