By MADDY VITALE
A new roof is just one of two major improvements planned for the Ocean City Free Public Library in 2023.
Starting next month, workers will replace the roof as part of an array of upgrades in the city’s capital plan for facilities in town.
The library is housed in the Community Center at 1735 Simpson Ave. It is a 30-plus-year-old building and in recent years, the roof has leaked from time to time. While workers have patched the leaky areas, a new roof is greatly needed, library officials said during an OCFPL Board of Trustees meeting Monday.
Vince Bekier, the city’s director of Operations and Engineering, informed Library Director Karen Mahar and her staff that the project would get underway in mid to late January.
“They are replacing the entire roof,” Mahar said during the board meeting.
She explained that there may be some occasions when portions of the library will be temporarily closed.
“There could be times when they work on the roof and they’ll want us to close that area,” Mahar said. “We will do that no problem. They will give us a few days’ notice.”
She said the city estimated that it could take anywhere from three to five months for the project to be completed.
“I just would like it done,” she said. “I feel like it should be completed.”
Another project — a much-anticipated one — is a renovation plan that would upgrade much of the second floor of the library.
That project is planned for the fall, Mahar said.
The building improvements will consist of an expansion of the Young Adults section, new furnishings, brighter lighting and more quiet space for study time as well as “maker space” for do-it-yourself types of projects, officials said.
The project has been on hold for a few years while the library has been seeking state funding to offset the estimated $1.3 million cost. The city had already bonded for the project, so it can be done at any time, officials said.
But Mahar wanted to see if the library could secure state funding to offset the cost. However, the library was unsuccessful in securing state grant money.
The first grant proposal submitted by the city through the Library Bond Construction Act was not approved back in December of 2020. Another one was submitted by the city in June 2021 and was not selected for grant funds.
“We thought we could get state funding and be prudent,” Mahar explained. “But we did not get it.”
Architect William McLees, of William McLees Architecture in Somers Point, is designing the plan to modernize the facility and make it more user-friendly.
Mahar said she is hoping to have McLees come in to discuss the project so that they could start with the bid process.
“We are looking at early September,” Mahar said of when the project could start.
Here is a link to the project’s rendering: https://ocnjdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/library-renovation-rendering-2.pdf
In other matters, Mahar and Board of Trustees President Jennifer Shirk commended the hard work of the library staff and the rest of the Community Center for a successful Community Center Holiday Festival on Dec. 4.
“We had a great turnout for the holiday festival,” Mahar said. “It was nice because it was spread out. We all talked and it was nice. There was Santa and Mrs. Claus and crafts. The food was set up. It was a great flow. The (Ocean City Historical) Museum did well and the Arts Center had their annual pottery show and sold pottery and such. It was really a great event.”
Shirk noted that while initially the attendance was “sparse,” visitors began to trickle in.
“We had a nice turnout,” she said. “It was very well done.”
To learn more about the Ocean City Free Public Library, located at 1735 Simpson Ave. in the Community Center, visit www.oceancitylibrary.org.
