Northport Approves $378K For Tuscaloosa Public Library Roof Replacement

NORTHPORT, AL — The Northport City Council on Monday approved a special appropriation to cover part of its share for a roof replacement and other improvements for the Tuscaloosa Public Library.

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The library is in need of roughly $2.7 million worth of immediate improvements in the future, including a new roof, updates to air conditioning and other electrical work. The Northport City Council, committing to its share of improvements, approved $378,000 to be split over this fiscal year and the next.

City of Northport Finance Director Darren McGee told the council the special allocation will come out to $189,000 each fiscal year and will be contingent on the City of Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County committing to their much larger pro-rata shares of the project.

The commitment for the county is slightly higher than the City of Tuscaloosa, as Patch previously reported, with Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox recently recommending $1.1 million for the library in the next fiscal year as part of the city's capital projects budget.

Council President Jeff Hogg praised Northport's appointed delegate to the library board — Randy Fondren — for his work in improving the relationship of the Tuscaloosa Public Library and Northport City Hall. Fondren then received a round of applause from those in attendance.

"The City of Northport has taken a drastic step in moving forward with our library as a partner," Hogg said, before mentioning the contributions of TPL in bringing some of its free programming to Northport. "For the longest time there was not much communication with the Tuscaloosa Public Library in the past. A few years ago appointed Randy Fondren for our board appointment and he has been very instrumental in the keeping the lines of communication open between us and the library."

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