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Politics & Government

Bala Cynwyd Library Expansion Narrowly Approved

Four Board of Commissioners members said they would prefer to renovate the library on its existing footprint.

A proposal to renovate and expand the Bala Cynwyd Library for $6.72 million was narrowly approved Wednesday night, first by the Lower Merion Library Committee and then shortly thereafter by the Board of Commissioners.

Both the Library Committee and the Board of Commissioners voted 7-4 in favor of renovating and expanding the library by adding 6,000 square feet of new space, rather than simply renovating the library on its existing footprint for $4.45 million.

Commissioners Daniel Bernheim, Brian Gordon, Scott Zelov, and Lewis Gould Jr. voted in opposition of the library expansion project both when the Library Committee made its recommendation to the Board of Commissioners, and then a few minutes later when the Board of Commissioners held a special meeting to vote on the issue. 

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The Library Committee voted on the library project after a public hearing which took up two prior meetings, the second of which stretched on for four and a half hours and was continued until Wednesday night, where six residents spoke.

The expansion project will involve relocating a stairway and circulation and adding a glass-partitioned teen gathering and study space; 1,000 square feet of new space for early-childhood activity area and children’s service areas; and a book return room inside the library. 

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It will also include the renovations from the renovation-only proposal: addressing maintenance issues such as fixing the leaky roof and HVAC system,  making the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and bringing the fire sprinkler system up to code.

Commissioners spoke for and against the expansion.

Commissioner Paul McElhaney said he was in favor of the expansion and viewed the difference in the cost between expanding the library, or just renovating as small when it was broken down per taxpayer.

“The difference is $140 over 20 years,” McElhaney said.  “That’s a tank of gas in my pickup truck.  This is a place of enrichment.  This is a place of education.  This is a place of community.”

Commissioner Brian Gordon said while there was no question that the library renovations should be done and needed to be done, but he did not think an expansion was necessary as someone who personally described himself as an environmentalist and “someone who by nature is fiscally restrained.”

As the Ward commissioner for Merion, Gordon said Bala Cynwyd is his constituents’ library but very few of his constituents had asked for a library expansion and only a few had complained that the library was crowded.

“I just don’t understand why we can’t better utilize the space that we have,” Gordon said.

Gordon said it “doesn’t make sense” environmentally or fiscally to expand the library because with an expansion, there would be 6,000 more square feet to heat and cool and a larger roof and more windows to maintain.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the vote totals in the library vote.

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