By Dan Murphy
A new South End Branch Library could be occupiable in between 24 to 30 months, according to a team member on hand for the sixth community meeting on the project held virtually on May 28.
The two-story building will span between 15,500 and 16,500 square feet, marking a 40-percent increase in space over the old 9,400 square-foot library. Besides having significantly expanded adult, teen, and children’s areas, plans for the new building include a community meeting room offering seating for around 100, along with smaller multi-purpose meeting and study rooms. A non-occupiable, third-floor roof will accommodate mechanicals and HVAC equipment while providing ample space for future solar panels.
The 6,400 square-foot footprint for the expanded building, reduced from the previously proposed 7,700 square feet, would encroach 4½ feet into the alley, resulting in the loss of four staff parking spaces, said Brett Bentson, a principal for Boston-based Utile Architecture.
The project team has gone to great lengths to preserve existing trees at Library Park, said Bentson, adding that the project is now in its construction documentation phase.
Funding for the project is now in the hands of the City Council, which has until June 30 to approve the city’s operating and capital budgets (the latter of which covers the next five years), according to David Leonard, president of the BPL.
“We’re hopeful for its passage,” said Leonard, adding that the city’s pending budgets provide for the entire amount requested for the project by the Friends of the South End Library (FOSEL).
The library has been closed since falling prey to flooding in September 2023, after also suffering an earlier flood the previous April.
(As a precaution against future flooding, the design for the new building includes a ramp leading to the entrance of an elevated first floor, with its entrance off the Tremont Street sidewalk.)
Rep. John Moran pointed out by the time a new South End Branch Library opens, the community will have been without a neighborhood library for nearly five years.
“I’m really pleased we’re moving in the direction of getting [a new library] built. I’m extremely excited to see all the progress that’s been made. I do think the community was listened to, and that it’s a great design,” said Rep. Moran, who offered to do anything he could to help expedite construction of the project.
Likewise, Derek Lessing, a FOSEL board member, also lauded the latest project plans as a “great improvement from last time.”
Meanwhile, materials from the South End Historical Society, previously housed at the library, are now being scanned, and will later be made available online, said Priscilla Foley, the BPL’s director of neighborhood services.
These materials were removed from the library and placed in a “preserved environment,” said Foley, as “internal discussions” continue on how the collection will ultimately be displayed.
“It’s a longer project we’re working on,” added Foley.