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February 19, 2010

Boonton preparing to take over library's building

By Eugene Paik/For The Star-Ledger
February 18, 2010, 5:44PM
BOONTON -- Town officials are about to reach an agreement to gain control the historic Holmes Library building, a move that would allow major rehabilitation work of the Main Street structure.

The board of aldermen scheduled to vote Tuesday night on a resolution that would make the deal official, but the vote was postponed until March 1 to iron out issues with the document.

A 2005 file photo of the Holmes Library in BoontonIf approved, the current owner, a board of representatives from local churches, will transfer the building’s deed at no charge, Mayor Cyril Wekilsky said. The library board, which is separate from the town’s governing body, would continue to run the library.

For about 116 years, the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, has been used as Boonton’s library and has been owned by the board of churches.

The board of churches was created in the early 1890s based on the will of deceased property owner James Holmes, who said he wanted the building to become a public library. The board, which represented the five churches in Boonton at that time, controlled library services for almost a hundred years, Boonton history librarian Joe Gasparro said.

In 1993, he said, the town formed a separate public board to take over the library and give the municipality more authority in its operation. The new library board now controls the services of Holmes Library, while the board of churches owns the building itself.

The separation of the building owner and the library, however, made it difficult to secure grant money to renovate the aging building, library director Sam Pharo said.

The library board, which is appointed by the mayor, hopes that by taking full control of the Holmes building, it can begin some badly needed renovation work, Pharo said. But in order to do that legally, the deed needs to be signed over to the town, he said.

The terms of the lease, such as its length and rent, are some of the details that held up the approval of Tuesday’s resolution. Pharo said a lease has to last for at least 20 years.

Once the deal is official, the library plans to focus on the rehabilitation work and to explore an expansion. The library currently occupies the three-story building’s ground and basement floors, while three apartments take up the rest of the structure.

What hasn’t been determined yet is the fate of the two apartment tenants still living in the building, Pharo said. They could be required to leave in order for the library to receive the grant funding.

“Having private citizens makes it tricky,” Pharo said. “I can’t say what’s going to happen.”

Posted by tumulty at February 19, 2010 8:53 AM

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