Starting in December, Allegan Public Library will be surrounded by construction as its expansion and renovation projects get underway. While the library will remain open, access will be limited with the only entryway at the Carnegie building fronting Hubbard Street.
“It will be challenging, especially for those who are disabled, but it will be a lot easier access once it’s finished,” said library director Ryan Deery.
The library’s construction management firm, the Christman Company, gave Allegan City an update at the Oct. 23 council meeting.
Phase 1 of the project will include the widening of the entry drive to make it two-way traffic between the library and Griswold Auditorium. The current exit drive will also be closed as the Emily Green Law Office building is moved to make room for the addition.
Pedestrian access to the library will be from the north side of Hubbard and there will be no access to the back parking lot or Hanson Park. However, an exception was made after it was pointed out that the parking lot also accesses the banquet room at Griswold Auditorium where weddings and other events are booked each weekend in December.
Project manager Jamie Erbes said traffic control measures could be used for Griswold events since the exit drive must be used for both entering and exiting.
When the new entry and exit drive is finished at the end of December, the parking lot will be accessible; however, the library will still only have access at the north entrance. Because there will no longer be a sidewalk at the west entrance, those doors will become an emergency exit only.
The end of December is when Phase 2 of the project will begin, concentrating on the new addition on the east side of the old exit drive. It’s also when concrete trucks and other heavy equipment will be busy on site work. The addition should be completed by late June 2018. During this phase, the new entry/exit drive will be open but with limited open parking behind the Griswold.
Phase 3 includes renovation to the inside of the existing building. It will start in late June and be finished in late October 2018. Pedestrian access will be in the new addition at the new east entrance off Hubbard Street or from the new south entrance located off the back parking lot.
City manager Joel Dye added that from December until the project is finished, one lane of Hubbard Street will be reduced from Chestnut to Walnut Street.
“Basically Hubbard will go back to how it was before it became a two-way,” he said.
Virginia Ransbottom can be contacted at vransbottom@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534.
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