"Where is the curved glass wall?"

As a Boyden Library Trustee, the question I hear most often right now about the library expansion is:  “What happened to the curved glass wall you showed us at town meeting?" I would like to address this question today. 

Similar to all town building projects, voters were presented with a conceptual plan of the proposed addition.  Conceptual plans are good faith representations of a project, and are created before significant funding is available for detailed plans. Detailed construction plans cannot be created prior to the town’s approval of a building project.  We were very enthusiastic about the curved glass wall and thrilled when the town approved the project.

After receiving town approval for the project, we began to develop detailed plans.  As we worked with the Permanent Municipal Building and Planning Committee, it became clear that the curved glass wall was prohibitively expensive, and would present long term maintenance problems.  The primary goal of the Trustees is to provide the town with a high quality library addition within the approved budget.  The curved glass wall made this impossible. We realized, quite sadly, that we would be unable to proceed with the design we had come to like so much. 

Lerner Ladds + Bartells, our award winning architects, created a new design that does not have a curved glass wall, but it does contain many appealing features. The glass stairwell will admit lots of light into the building, and provide a strong sense of engagement between the building and the environment. Children will love looking outside as they climb the stairs to their “tree house” space, and visible activity inside the building will draw additional visitors. The floor plan of the building is significantly improved, and we are applying for LEEDS certification as a “green” building.  The new design is substantially better in many important ways than the original design.  Most significantly, it can be built within the approved budget.