By KATHY MELLOTT
PATTON — By spring, residents of the Patton area will have access to one of the region’s most modern libraries.
Construction of the $756,000 facility started less than two months ago.
Builders believe it should be ready for winter interior work in early December.
“We’re hoping for a spring completion date,” said Pat Willett, a longtime library volunteer and one of the driving forces behind the new facility.
The wall panels are in place and the sidewalk poured, Cindy Brickley, of general contractor Brickley Construction of Portage, told library board members.
Bricks for the exterior should arrive next week and windows in the second week of December, she said.
Architect Anna Anderson, of the Johnstown firm of Pawlowski & Haman Architects, said the materials are arriving on time and the general contractor and subcontractors are close to being on schedule.
“Hopefully the building is going to be under roof soon, say the week after Thanksgiving. We’re in good shape, I think,” Anderson told board members.
At 4,000 square feet, the new library will more than double the available space and for the first time will provide accessibility for the handicapped and baby strollers.
The first library was opened in Patton in 1962 and the move to the present site, a former store-front at 404 Magee Ave., occurred in 1984.
The new library is being built on a vacant tract just up the street at 444 Magee Ave.
It was just about a year ago that the library board learned it was receiving a $400,000 grant from the state Department of Education through the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Funds Grant Program.
The money was coupled with $200,000 bequested to the library board by Irene Micklick Sauter of Carlisle, a former Patton resident who died in 2006.
The remainer of the money came from local sources, including a single anonymous donation of $7,000.
The library board is seeking volunteers to help refinish and install oak shelving to hold the books and periodicals. The units were purchased from the Altoona Area School District when it closed a building two years ago.
Board members are also ready to begin selecting materials and colors for the interior and some areas of the exterior of the building.
General contractor for the building is Brickley Construction Inc. of Portage. ECon Services, Inc., of Northern Cambria is the electrical contractor; Montgomery Bros. Plumbing and Heating of Altoona is doing the plumbing, while Marc Services Inc. of Windber is the heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor.
