Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Jones Library Jumping Through Hoops

Amherst's "living room" wishes to expand by about 40%

The Jones Library will need to negotiate a pair of hurdles at the upcoming Town Meeting, one of them a tad more sizable than the other because it requires a two-thirds vote: In order to buy adjacent property from the Strong House History Museum, a zoning change from Residential to Business is required otherwise the Strong House becomes "non conforming".

 Land behind the Jones Library and to east side of Strong House needed for expansion

And Amherst frowns on anything non conforming.

The other interconnected problem is the property that the Library hopes to build on currently hosts the Kinsey Memorial Garden and the Strong House History Garden, both considered jewels in an emerald necklace of badly needed downtown greenery.

A citizens petition article #39 to Town Meeting calls upon the Library not to touch the Kinsey Memorial Garden. That will only require a simple majority vote to pass, although it is non-binding.

But it will however -- if passed -- cast doubt on the viability of article #43, the needed zoning change for the Strong House (last article on a l-o-n-g warrant).

Click to enlarge/read

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I still don't understand why the library feels that it needs to expand. Yes, some renovations would be good. But expansion? In my view: not at all necessary.

Anonymous said...

Agreed.

Anonymous said...

Agreed, we should stop trying to be like Northampton.

Anonymous said...

They cannot get any State grant funds unless they expand. The renovation costs would be solely on the town.

Anonymous said...

However, they could spend less. What a concept.

Anonymous said...

How about building a branch library in South Amherst? Possibly as part of a South Amherst Fire Station? Is the North Amherst branch still open -- not even sure where it was but remember being told it was tiny. Expand that. If LSSE is going to be in the middle school, put a genuine youth room there.

Or raising the atrium to two stories? That's an "expansion."

There are so many other options if money must be spent...

Anonymous said...

Um, there already is a branch library in S. Amherst.

Anonymous said...

You build a library in West Amherst or East Amherst

Anonymous said...

West Amherst? The Jones is practically in West and East Amherst. Amherst doesn't go very far west or east. Get real.

Anonymous said...

Can't build up higher than the original structure. It would violate Historic Preservation restrictions.