Arlington Heights Memorial Library Approve Building Improvement Projects

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — Arlington Heights Memorial Library officials recently granted preliminary approval to two building improvement projects.

The first project will include installing two security cameras to record footage of activities that would potentially damage the library through its book drops, The Chicago Tribune reports.

Officials plan on buying four cameras, which will cost roughly $31,000. Two cameras will be bought for the exterior, one located at the main entrance on Dunton Avenue, and a second at the "drive up" book drop in the parking garage. Two older exterior cameras will also be replaced, due to the frequency of incidents and accidents in the library's garage and parking lot.

"We need some additional cameras for coverage, but a key issue is also the storage capacity," Library Trustee David Unumb said at a Monday building committee meeting, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Library officials are also planning to replace the library's aging boiling system by Dec. In it's place, three new boilers will be installed at an estimated cost of $332,700, Library Board President Debbie Smart told The Chicago Tribune.

At first, officials considered installing a geothermal heating system for the library. With further research, they decided the cost was too high, and there would be many difficulties installing the system, Jason Kuhl, the library's executive director, told The Chicago Tribune.

"It would have been really expensive, and as we're not a school with an open area like a football field, it would have meant drilling about 120 holes, 400 feet deep, in the parking lot," Kuhl said.

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