Building Project Updates
Library Building Committee meeting minutes, agendas, project documents, and video recordings can be found in the Library Building Committee Google Drive and are updated frequently.
Just the facts! Read our FAQ page here. (Updated 10/31/2022)
Wondering what the new building might look like? Check out the interior and exterior renderings. Just be aware – the exterior will NOT be painted white!
October 17, 2022: View the Town Meeting slides, or watch the video of the presentation on Westborough TV’s website (the presentation starts at about 2:18:00 into the video).
October 1, 2022: Take action for Massachusetts libraries! Help Westborough and 12 other communities with an appeal to legislators for ARPA funding to cover the historic escalation in all our library projects. Click here to send an email to your state legislators!
September 19, 2022: The Advisory Finance Committee discussed the estimated tax impact of the project. Finance Director Leah Talbot’s September 12 memo, which uses the September 12 cost estimate, predicts a cost of $332 to the average single family tax bill during the first fiscal year of the borrow. The highest cost for borrowing comes in the first year that a municipality borrows funds. Her explanation can be viewed below.
September 15, 2022: Library Director Maureen Amyot and Library Trustee Chair Mary Johnston presented the project to the Advisory Finance Committee. Library statistics quoted in the article can be viewed at the Annual Report of Information Statistics Comparison Chart link. The committee also mentioned the recent Westborough Parking Study which is available online. Westborough TV recorded the meeting:
September 13, 2022: Library Director Maureen Amyot presented the project and new cost estimate before the Select Board. Westborough TV recorded the meeting:
September 13, 2022: The design team and construction manager released their reconciled cost estimate of $36,698,556. The cost comparison can be viewed online, and an explanation is given in the September 14 presentation to the Select Board, above.
August 30, 2022: Our design team from Lamoureux Pagano presented their updated floor plans, site plan, and renderings of the new building. They included a 360 degree fly-around of the exterior. You can find all the drawings on Google Drive.
July 19, 2022: Westborough TV covered our Public Forum at the library:
July 7, 2022: The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners awarded our grant! We now have until January 9, 2023 to get town approval for the project to move forward.
The grant award was covered in the Community Advocate and the Telegram & Gazette.
June 9, 2022: The Request for Qualifications was issued, with a deadline of June 23. Seven firms responded, and the committee ultimately selected Fontaine Bros. as the Construction Manager in August.
May 31, 2022: Our Owner’s Project Manager was notified that our application for Construction Management At Risk was approved by the Inspector General. The next step was to issue a Request for Qualifications for a Construction Manager.
April 20, 2022: Our application to use Construction Management At Risk as the construction method for this project was submitted to the Massachusetts Inspector General’s Office.
April 4, 2022: The Community Advocate newspaper published a fantastic article covering our March 29 Public Forum. You can read the article on their website.
March 29, 2022: Our first Public Forum was held on March 29, 2022. Westborough TV recorded the session, and you can view it on their YouTube channel.
December 20, 2021: An excellent article in the Community Advocate summarizes Library Director Maureen Amyot’s December 14 presentation to the Westborough Select Board.
December 14, 2021: Below is the presentation before the Select Board, which is an overview of the building project.
November 2021: The Town of Westborough, led by its Library Board of Trustees, Library Director and Library Building Committee, began accepting proposals in response to its Request for Qualifications for OPM services for the Library renovation project in Westborough, Massachusetts.
July 2021: We made it to the top of the waiting list!
We were notified in July 2021 that we were now #1 on the waiting list for our construction grant. What that means is that when the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners awards grants in July 2022, we should be one of the recipients! It also means that the timeline below, under “Fall 2020 Updated Timeline” is still our best guess at the timeline for the project. Here are our short term plans:
Summer 2021: Re-activate the Library Building Committee
Fall 2021: Begin a search for a new Owner’s Project Manager
Early 2022: The OPM and architect will work with the Building Committee to seek a Construction Manager, and begin working on a new cost estimate.
July 2022: Grant announcement.
August 2022: Cost estimate completed and shared with the public.
September 2022: Public meetings about the revised design and costs.
October 2022: Fall Town Meeting where we will seek approval of the project. The Westborough Public Library Foundation will kick off a capital campaign once the project is approved.
We will post updates as things happen, but if you have questions, please email Library Director Maureen Amyot anytime at [email protected].
October 18, 2021: Brief update at Fall Town Meeting (14:48-19:00 in the video below) http://live.westboroughtv.org/CablecastPublicSite/show/9979?channel=2
November 10, 2020 – Building Project update presented to the Board of Selectmen.
Fall 2020 Updated Timeline
