Library bridge slated for repair

The main bridge leading from Wescott Street to the front
entrance of the South Portland Memorial Brach Library,
built in 1977 and condemned last month, is slated to
undergo $80,200 in repairs.

SOUTH PORTLAND — The South Portland Memorial Branch Library is slated to undergo $80,200 in repairs to an innovative bridge entrance that helped it win a design award when built in 1977.

The American Institute of Architects recognized the building, designed by Wilber R. Ingalls Architects and built by Allied Construction, for its “vision and daring.” Built next to a steep hill between Wescott Street and the municipal golf course, the library is accessible from a pair of concrete bridges, or at least it was until the main bridge, leading to the after-hours book deposit, was condemned.

Perhaps ironically, the structure was condemned by Joseph Leasure, of L & L Engineering, the son of John Leasure, the architect who designed the main library building on Broadway. Brought in after parks department workers noticed accelerated rust on support beams beneath the bridge, Leasure declared the main bridge unsafe to use.

“Literally, there are holes all the way through some of the supports,” said Library Director Kevin Davis, last week. “When he was looking at it, he poked it with his tape measure and a chunk of it fell right off.”

On Oct. 1, the City Council voted unanimously to pay Wright-Ryan Construction of Portland $80,200 to replace and repair both library bridges. Wright-Ryan submitted the lowest of eight bids for the project, which ranged as high as $205,425.

“That high bid was more than this entire building cost when it was built,” said Davis.

Work is slated to begin later this month and should be complete by December. That timing means the branch library will be closed for at least two weeks, after the golf course pro shop that occupies the building’s lower level closes for the season in early November. When the pro shop shuts down, the bridges become the only access point to the library.

“We’ll just shut down the library and consolidate in the main building for a few weeks,” said Davis.

There are not plans to make that consolidation permanent, however, because, while hours of operation at the branch library were cut 25 percent in 2010, it still accounts for between 11 and 15 percent of all library circulation in South Portland.

“The hours scaled way back to account for staffing realities, but the use didn’t,” said Davis. “People on this side of town really seem to love this building.”

However, the bridge is not the only issue at the branch library. At its Oct. 1 meeting, the City Council also authorized $17,600 to be paid to Damon Mechanical Services of Auburn for the purchase and installation of a new HVAC system, replacing a system installed in 1991. One other bid was received, for $30,921.

“Honestly, combined that’s a big investment to this building and it’s a bit of bad luck that both things happened at the same time,” said Davis. “However, I took the council’s vote as a real endorsement of the service provided to citizens on this side of the city.”

Davis also mentioned that the new bridges will have much safer handrails. The current ones would not be allowed if the bridges were built today, he said, as they are too low and the gaps between the bars are too wide.

Funds for the HVAC overhaul came from the 2011 and 2013 capital improvement budgets for the library. The library’s regular maintenance budget was able to cover $20,000 of the bridge repair. The rest was taken by the council from the city’s $9 million undesignated fund balance.