CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Under a perfect blue sky, 10 gold shovels gleamed in the sun.
The shovels were held by those who had a hand in seeing that the plans and money for the $1.3 million new Carrabassett Valley Public Library & Community Center were made. Many more people who had also helped in the last nearly three years of the project, stood by and smiled.
This, to me,” Jean Keith said gesturing to the where the new library will be built in the coming year, “symbolizes Carrabassett Valley. It’s what a bunch of people can do together. A bunch of people who didn’t even know each other getting together and forging a dream.” Keith, president of the library board of directors, thanked CNL Income Sugarloaf, LLC and Carrabassett Valley Academy for the donation of land adjacent to the Anti-Gravity Complex at the base of Sugarloaf, where the new facility will be built. She added thanks to everyone for staying with the dream.
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The town’s library has had some growing pains for many years. Housed in a small space behind the town office, the library’s well-used 2,000 volume collection will be able to grow to more that three times that size once the new library is built said library coordinator Andrea DeBiase, who served as a co-chair of the new building committee.
A new library has always been part of the long term comprehensive plan for the town of Carrabassett Valley, and for 18 years they have been allocating modest amounts in a reserve fund for a new building.
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By 2006, the new building fund had grown to approximately $35,000. In the spring of 2006, a committee was formed to develop a plan to move things forward. The plan would ultimately include not just space for a library but rental space for the local childcare (Western Maine Center for Children, headed by Marcia White) and a community room for continuing education, art exhibits, cultural events, after-school and senior activities.
The building committee brought the plan to the town’s voters with a commitment to raise private funds to alleviate some of the estimated $1.5 million in project costs. Voters accepted the proposal and a capital campaign called Building for the Future was launched.
Contributions from grant awards totaled $165,500. Thanks to: The Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation, Maine State Library New Century Construction Grant, The Betterment Fund, Davis Foundation, Camden National Bank, King Cummings Foundation, Morton Kelly Trust, Plum Creek Foundation and the Sugarloaf Region Charitable Trust.
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Individual donations and pledges have come in abundantly with the most significant gift coming from long time locals, Clem and Rolande Begin. Private gifts, grants and pledges have totaled close to $500,000 to date.
The building’s plans, drawn up by Reed & Co., include sloping roofs, red exterior siding and a wood timber screen wall which forms one side of the covered entrance porch. Inside, the entrance hall equipped with sitting areas, provides entrances into the community meeting room, library and childcare wings, along with shared storage rooms, restrooms and a kitchen.
The building is expected to be completed by January 2010.
I’ve always loved libraries,” said Louise Chase. A library board director and longtime volunteer, Chase, who will celebrate her 81st birthday in July, said she is very excited to see this project get started.
“I said, ‘please make this happen in my lifetime.’ It’s going to happen now,” she said smiling.
This is a great example of how public and private money can be used to enhance a community.
Congratulations to the library commitie for their perseverence in making this happen.