Published: September 03, 2008 11:01 pm      

TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Library access is key

The committee scouting locations for a new, centrally-located library in the town took its plea to the planning board Wednesday night for its input.

Library Advisory Board Chairman David Dietz said the committee looked in detail at six sites within the town for a modern, $8.5 million facility. Two of the sites won approval from the committee — a slice of Kenney Field at Brighton Road and Colvin Boulevard, and 535 Belmont Ave., where the town’s water and sewer departments are located.

The process doesn’t require any formal action from the planning board, but its chairman, Ken Swanekamp, said a project such as this needs input from a large cross section of the community in order to come to a consensus on a new site, which is why the Library Advisory Board gave its presentation Wednesday night.

Although the two sites are fairly central spots, they’re not perfect. “There’s no problem-free site in the town, but we think that can be overcome,” Dietz said.

If part of Kenney Field were chosen, the state would have to OK redesignating park land. The Belmont Avenue site, meanwhile, poses a different set of problems because of the cost associated with relocating the town’s water and sewer departments.

Eventually, one of those two sites will likely be chosen. “This community desperately needs a new library,” Dietz said, adding, “We can’t go any farther unless we get some indication that we have a viable site.”

Swanekamp asked Dietz if there would be any opposition from local athletic organizations were the Kenney Field site to be selected. Dietz said there might be some opposition, but added that the baseball diamond where a potential new library would be placed is rarely used.

Moreover, he said, “I think we have adequate athletic facilities. We don’t have adequate library facilities.”

Because of the cost factor, former town Councilman Raymond Sinclair, who is a member of the Library Advisory Board, said he strongly opposes the Belmont Avenue location.

Both proposed sites are accessible from a major bus route and would be easier to walk to for more town residents. “The walkability and accessibility of the site is important,” Swanekamp said. “One of the strong points of Tonawanda is it’s always been a walkable community.”

Swanekamp added that “maximum effort” needs to be put forth toward making the new library easily accessible. Still, he noted, “It’s never going to be what it was with the multiple (library) buildings.”

The town’s first permanent library was established at 18 Mang Ave. in Kenmore in 1924, according to the advisory board’s presentation. The town had five branches until a few years ago when three were shuttered in the aftermath of Erie County’s fiscal crisis.

As a result, the Library Advisory Board has spent more than a year searching for an ideal site to build a 35,000 square foot library — with room to expand to 50,000 square feet — to replace the Kenilworth and Kenmore branches, both of which are situated in the southern end of the town and were designed more than 50 years ago.

“The two remaining libraries in the Town of Tonawanda are at a crossroads,” the Library Advisory Board’s presentation states. “Faced with continuing heavy demand for their materials, the libraries and their patrons are making do with facilities and spaces that were designed in many cases over a half a century ago.”

Once the committee decides upon one specific location, it then has to tackle the issue of raising enough money to make it a reality. The committee plans on meeting with the Ken-Ton Chamber of Commerce later this month to pitch a public and private partnership to finance the project.

While noting the board has done a lot of work already, Swanekamp told the library panel, “you’ve got a lot of work to go.”

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.