Manchester library proponents launch campaign
Sep. 15—MANCHESTER — State delegates and local leaders showed their support for the Vote Yes Library campaign at the group's kickoff event Wednesday night.
Voters will decide in a referendum on Election Day, Nov. 8, whether the town will bond up to $39 million for construction of a new 75,000 square-foot library at 1041 Main St., where the Webster Bank building now sits.
Vote Yes Library's goal is to have the referendum approved and provide the town with a new, 21st century library downtown.
The funding would cover all expenses, including purchase of the property, design work, demolition, and construction, as well as $3 million for work on the existing Mary Cheney Library at 586 Main St. for an alternate use of that building.
While the $39 million is the total estimated cost of the project, officials have said they expect the impact on taxpayers to be lower.
In addition to $5.5 million already allocated from the state's Coronavirus Capital Project Fund, the town expects to receive at least $1 million in state grants towards the project.
The town has also submitted an application for the state's Community Investment Fund for both the library project and further improvements along Main Street.
Nearly 40 residents, officials, and Vote Yes Library members attended the kickoff event, held Wednesday night at Silk City Coffee on Main Street. Speeches from state representatives, the mayor, and library campaign supporters drew applause from the crowd.
Stephen Ristau, chairman of Vote Yes Library and the town's 21st Century Public Library Task Force, said there are contingency plans underway for funding of the library, including the town's Community Investment Fund application.
"We won't know before we go to the polls on Nov. 8, but we'll have some pretty good data on where we're standing that we will publish ahead of the election," Ristau said of the funding application and other possible grants.
Miriam Byroade, chairwoman of the Library Advisory Board, said a new library would allow for a larger focus on library services, in addition to providing adequate parking.
"This is what we believe current and future generations of Manchester want," Byroade told the crowd.
Mayor Jay Moran said the reason a previous referendum to expand Mary Cheney Library failed was because supporters let the "naysayers" outdo them at the polls. Supporters of the new referendum need to actively work to get people to vote in favor, he said.
"This is the coach in me, this is what I do for a living ... I go into every game like we're going to lose," Moran said.
The previous 2012 referendum would have bonded $12.5 million for a 10,000 square-foot expansion of the Mary Cheney Library, adding more computer space and study areas and improving handicap accessibility.
Voters narrowly rejected the referendum, largely because the plans expanded the building into Center Memorial Park, which many detractors said would adversely affect the vista of downtown Main Street.
Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, said residents could count on his support in the General Assembly for the new building project, as libraries were deeply important in his upbringing.
"Growing up the way I did, I didn't have a lot of opportunities ... where I found refuge was the East Hartford Raymond Library," Rojas said.
Rep. Geoff Luxenberg, D-Manchester, said Rojas was a "tremendous asset" in the founding of the Community Investment Fund, and that he is honored to help support the library project.
Rep. Jason Doucette, D-Manchester, said members of the delegation would "work like heck" to secure money from the Community Investment Fund for Manchester, but the referendum still needs to pass.
"This is a once-in-a-generation thing, and it takes time and hard work for people to put this together," Doucette said.
Joseph covers East Hartford and South Windsor. He joined the JI in July 2021. Joseph graduated from the University of Connecticut and he is an avid guitarist and coffee enthusiast.
