Moving the Carnegie Library

Last week the Friends of the Carnegie Library held a Community Summit that brought together local civic leaders and officials working to save, move and ultimately utilize the historic Carnegie Library.   At this gathering we were made current about initiatives towards achieving our goal and had an opportunity to get answers to some important questions.  In the following I will be addressing issues pertaining to moving the Library. In a later blog I will discuss the exciting potential uses that were proposed at the Summit.

First, I think it needs to be made clear that the Carnegie Library will be saved. Tritec, the developers of the Four Corners location on Main Street, have consistently stated publicly they will prepare, secure and move the building to where ever the Village would like it moved to. In fact, they have to move it since it is part of the agreement they made to develop the Four Corners property.

It also is clear Mayor Pontieri and the entire Village Board are completely dedicated to make sure this happens. Mayor Pontieri, members of the Village Board and Rob Loscalzo of Tritec all have met numerous times with our group, provided us open access to tour the building, and have gone out of their way to answer all our questions over the past few months and we are thankful for it.

A new development, related to the move, that came out at our meeting is that Tritec now agrees to move the Library Building twice. Why will they move it twice? Well, it has to do with the time frame Tritec will be moving the building and also with the location it most likely will be moved to.

At the Summit, it was stated Tritec plans to begin demolition at the Four Corners sometime in June, meaning the Library needs to be moved within the next 4-6 weeks. Some months previous to this, Suffolk County Legislator Rob Calarco, upon hearing the Carnegie Library building needed a new home, made a proposal to locate the building to County-owned property on the corner of Main Street and West Avenue, adjacent the Court building. Initial approval to use this location already has passed unanimously in the County Legislature and has full support of County Executive Steve Bellone, as per Legislator Calarco at our meeting. 

Still, the use of this site is not finalized yet.  While the fact the bus depot on the site is slated to move to the Train Station, a written agreement to transfer ownership of this property still needs to be ironed out and approved by the Village and the County.  Part of this process includes making sure the location is feasible for the Carnegie building. Some unanswered concerns about the location include how to deal with the potentially high water table at the site, as well as mapping out exactly where on the site it will fit best. 

So while the political will to use this location is clear, the technical details to make the site usable still need to be worked out. Legislator Calarco has estimated it would take about one year before the property would be ready to house the Library.

With this in mind, Tritec has now agreed to move the building twice; first to a temporary location and then to the permanent location when that site is ready. As of today, it appears the building will be initially moved to Village property near the Sewage Treatment Plant, which is also just across the street from the proposed permanent location.

At this point, I want to emphasize that an Engineering firm, McClain and Associates, has inspected the building and determined the building is in excellent shape and very healthy for moving. The biggest issue will be removing any asbestos. The initial inspection report indicates a minimal amount of asbestos within the Carnegie that will be removed prior to the relocation. Keep in mind the building would remain secured and “packaged” for another move while staying at the temporary site, making a second move relatively easy. This report about the sturdiness for the move is available to all at Village Hall

So another good question is, “Why not use another location if the County location is not yet set?” Well, the main reason is the County-owned site comes at basically no cost to the Village, since it is already public property. Other potential publicly-owned sites include the parking lot adjacent the Patchogue Fire Department on Lake Street and the Oak Street Parking Lot, both owned by the Village.  

The Patchogue Fire Department has already made clear they are against moving the building on the lot on Lake Street, and I think we all know how crowded parking on Oak Street already is, without adding a new building there. 

Private property certainly remains a possibility, but that would mean an added cost of purchasing the property, creating the issue of who will pay for it. Mayor Pontieri stated at our meeting that he is committed to prevent impacting Village Taxes in saving the Library. He also stated no other location will be discussed until the County property proposed is ruled out. I think it is a fair assessment at this point to state the current proposed site near the Court is a 75-80% certainty that will take some time to make ready.

Another point of discussion at the Summit was regarding what portion of the Carnegie Library will actually be saved and moved. The Carnegie Library, as it sits today, consists of the original building with some additions that were added over the years.  None of the additions are slated to be moved with the original building.

The original building consists of: a main floor; a lower floor that is half above/half below grade, equal in square footage to the main floor and is sometimes referred to as a “basement”; and some upper floor loft space. Tritec has stated that, as per the agreement to move the building, they are only required to move all of the original building that is “above grade” and move it to a “concrete slab” foundation that Tritec will build.  What Tritec is planning to do is basically cut the lower level in half, leaving just what can be called a “crawl space” basement for utility support (i.e. heating, plumbing electric) below the main floor. Tritec does guarantee they will be keeping intact all the historically significant architectural elements, including the front door area columns and interior circular style staircase. 

This has produced a couple potential issues. Some of the proposed plans to utilize the building when moved (something that will be detailed in a later blog report) do desire the full lower floor space provided currently in the building. Also, since the front door opens basically “mid floor,” between the two floors of the building, it does call into question how the architectural integrity of this part of the building can be maintained.

These points were discussed at the Summit meeting and the Mayor stated these issues are still being worked out and negotiated with Tritec. The Mayor has indicated previously he would like to see both floors moved intact. Keeping in mind that there are no current plans for a “below grade” basement foundation and depending on how much of the building is moved, it may sit higher then it currently does today.  Regardless, these issues are in no way potential deal breakers and we remain confident will be worked out between Tritec and the Village.

Hopefully, this summary provides a clear picture of where we stand today in our goal to preserve this vital piece of Patchogue History. More importantly, I hope the Community is excited that the Carnegie Library will be moved and saved. In fact, it appears this move will be happening very soon.

We, at the Friends of the Carnegie Library, will be attempting to create a community celebration when this move does occur. We plan to line the streets with cheering residents when it happens. Look for announcements alerting the public about the big day coming from us soon.

In my next blog I will discuss the exciting potential uses for the Carnegie Library that were discussed at our Summit meeting, but in the meantime, please join the Friends of the Library contact list and be kept up to date on what is happening.  Visit our Facebook page or contact me at dmk11772@yahoo.com and become a Friend of the Carnegie Library.