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May 14, 2010

Orange Closes Library for the Month of May

localtalknews.com
Thursday, 13 May 2010 13:40 Walter Elliot .ORANGE – The Orange Free Public Library will be closed until at least June 1 for lead paint and possible asbestos remediation.

The Orange Health Department closed the library building at 348 Main St. on May 1 and four signs warning of lead contamination now adorn the library's front door and 109-year-old columns. Two rows of red danger tape across the library's Main Street entrance stairs provide an additional disincentive to access the two after-hours book drops.

Meanwhile, officials from neighboring libraries said that they've seen a slight increase in patronage from Orange cardholders.

Representatives of the East and West Orange public libraries said that they will honor Orange cardholders' access to their holdings and services this month like they always have. Glen Ridge's director added that there has been an increase in the borough's computer use - but it is not clear whether the visiting patrons are from Orange.

"We've had more patrons using our computers - but they don't identify themselves as being from Orange or another town," said Glen Ridge Library Director John Sitnik. "We've had more patrons from Montclair since they've been closing on Mondays. I'm not sure if Orange residents would likely visit us since we don't have a parking lot."

East Orange Public Library spokeswoman Lina Bellewitch said the library will honor Orange cardholders who have a valid Reciprocating Essex County Library (ReBL) sticker on their card.

"We've seen Orange residents come in and use our materials - but they've always been welcomed," said West Orange Library Director Mary Romance. "Due to the suddenness of the Orange library's closing, we've been in talks with Orange city officials, the library's trustees and the Friends of the Orange Public Library."

Orange Business Administrator John Mason confirmed that he and other Orange officials have had talks about library reciprocation with East and West Orange colleagues. Mason added that the lead and asbestos remediation is going well enough to meet a June 1 reopening.

"I had a meeting with the library trustees president and the contractor on the library steps yesterday morning (May 11)," said Mason. "The contractor showed us his progress. We'll be happy to reopen the library to our residents and the public June 1."

South Orange Village Library Director Melissa Kopecky said that she can inform her ReBL colleagues and patrons from Orange.

"That's good news," said Kopecky. "We're about to have a ReBL meeting on how to help Orange library patrons. I've seen Orange residents confused about when their library will reopen and what their card can do for them."

Orange Health Officer Vincent DeFilippo ordered the library closed May. 1. DeFilippo, who was attending an out of state seminar May 10-13, was quoted in other media outlets as saying that he had received a complaint of paint peeling from library walls. He said he gave an initial order to cleanup and close March 10 and extended the deadline to April 30.

There may also be asbestos removed from beneath the plaster walls should the substance be detected while the lead paint is removed from the main building's walls.

Meanwhile, the library trustees hired Alpine Painting and Sandblasting Contractors of Paterson April 13. Orange Library Director Doris Walker said in a published report that the $43,000 contracts covers lead paint - but that any asbestos remediation is to be covered by a separate agreement.

Alpine's work will largely focused on the building's 1901 structure. That core was designed by famous architect Sanford White (1853-1906) of McKim, Mead and White, New York. A southwest wing was added in the 1970s and the most recent major work was the reopening of the main building's rotunda last year.

Walker, a former East Orange assistant director before her 1990 appointment in Orange, said that the lead paint may have come from a renovation during the 1950s. That renovation may have included the enclosing the rotunda's space with a drop ceiling.

The library building is on the national and state register of historic places. The 1901 building, however, is the oldest active library in the area.

The library had been striving to match a $750,000 restoration grant offering by the Garden State Preservation Historic Trust Fund. The trustees had also posted a 107-page preservation plan on the library Web site Nov. 18, 2008.

Posted by tumulty at May 14, 2010 10:38 AM

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