Amherst’s Jones Library giving holiday tours

An Amherst resident reads in the atrium of the Jones Library in Amherst on Aug. 15, 2019.

An Amherst resident reads in the atrium of the Jones Library in Amherst on Aug. 15, 2019. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Staff Writer

Published: 12-21-2024 4:01 PM

AMHERST — Hour-long tours of the Jones Library building, including bringing people to places inside both the 1928 and the 1990s addition that are typically restricted to employees, are taking place over the next two weeks.

Similar to tours offered earlier this year, the “Jones for the Holidays” is being done in advance of the 43 Amity St. building being closed to make way for a $46.1 million, 18-month-long renovation and expansion project.

Volunteers with Friends of the Jones Libraries will serve as guides, explaining how the refurbished building will become fully accessible, with program space for children, teens and adults, bathrooms on each floor, and the preservation of historic woodwork and fireplaces. The Jones will also meet the town’s net-zero energy bylaw.

The tours, for which people can drop by and meet in the atrium, are set for Dec. 26 at 3 p.m., Dec. 28 at 10:30 a.m., Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. and Jan. 2 at 10 a.m. No reservations are required.

Kent Faerber, who co-chairs the capital campaign committee, encourages people who will be in town to go on a tour, observing that they will better understand what the library does, and what its needs are. “You’ll see and hear about the amazing programs our library provides and the absolute necessity to renovate and expand,” Faerber said.

The tours come as the town received a favorable low bid from Fontaine Brothers Inc. of Springfield, following a series of “value engineering” changes. The $35.77 million construction bid is $231,000 below the advertised cost of the work and, factoring in project expenses to date and contingency costs, the low bid places the total project cost about $1.6 million under the bond cap approved by the Town Council.

Work will begin after a federal Section 106 process is complete that will lead to a memorandum of agreement for dealing with changes to historical features of the existing library, such as removal of historic staircases and altering other historical features, such as the appearance of the building from the street.

The Section 106 process is required to access federal grants for the project, including a Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and an Economic Development Initiative grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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Town Manager Paul Bockelman said this week that officials are waiting for the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s response to the Section 106 process.

Once the project begins, the library will operate from a temporary site, yet to be chosen, with expanded hours at the branch libraries.

For more information about the project and the capital campaign, go to www.JonesLibraryCapitalCampaign.org.

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