More than two years have passed since a fire destroyed the old Atlantic Schoolhouse, site of the Swan’s Island Library. In the early-morning hours on July 24, 2008, lightning struck the historic building starting the fire. By daylight, all that was left of the building and its contents was a pile of rubble and ashes. Despite the devastation and huge sense of loss in the community, an opportunity arose-the opportunity to build a modern building, energy efficient and user friendly, a space built to suit the needs of the community today and into the future.
The Swan’s Island Educational Society (S.I.E.S.), which oversees the library and historical society, has worked hard over the past two years securing the funds necessary to begin construction of the new building. Funding came from various sources including $605,000 from insurance on the building and its contents, various fundraising activities, private donations, and most recently a $398,000 federal grant made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act facilitated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. Senator Susan Collins attended a ceremonial groundbreaking held at the library site on August 20 and addressed the crowd gathered saying, “”Having voted for the Recovery Act, it gives me great pleasure to see the concrete good that funding is doing.”
The S.I.E.S. board selected Bar Harbor architect Stewart Brecher in December 2008 to design the new library building using input from the S.I.E.S. board and community members. This past summer, with all the money necessary to build in hand, the board put the construction job out to bid. Seven bids were received and the board awarded the contract to Catalano’s Construction of Thomaston. The company submitted a bid of $890,420. The construction company has rented a house on the island to maximize their workweek and to avoid unnecessary travel back and forth to the mainland. Rick Catalano, President of Catalano’s Construction, said, “We have a family member on every one of our jobs.” Catalano’s son Michael is the onsite supervisor of the library project.
“Work on the site began September 27 and we hope for occupancy by Memorial Day or early June,” said Dexter Lee, a member of the S.I.E.S. board. Lee also serves on the board’s building committee and has been involved in the selection of the building’s architect and the design. “Stewart Brecher and associate Meredith Randolph will continue as the supervising architects. John Follis, a local builder with architectural experience, will be the onsite clerk of the works. Monthly progress meetings with the construction company, architects, and U.S. Department of Agriculture engineers should keep everything on track and within budget,” Lee added.
“The new library will contain approximately the same square footage as the old one, but will all be on one floor. As it is a public building, many state and federal regulations mandate features the old building did not have. The design chosen is reminiscent of the old building, but will be fully accessible to everyone,” said Lee.
Immediately after the fire, a temporary library was set up in the Swan’s Island town office and has been operating out of a conference room there. Library and town office services have co-existed in the small space for more than two years. It will be a relief for the library to move into its new building next year and business at the town office to return to normal.
“I am happy that the construction of the new library has finally begun. The town office has been cramped for the last two years. One day last summer I counted 35 people using laptops in and around the building. It’s been nice to have the company, but sometimes it is overwhelming,” said Lee, who also serves as a selectman and works at the town office.
Thousands of donated books arrived on Swan’s Island in the weeks and months following the fire, but there was no place to put them all. The temporary library in the town office only had space for a small portion of the books received. Books have been stored in houses all over the island as well as the Odd Fellows Hall for the past two years. The books will eventually find a home on the shelves of the new library when the construction is completed.
Candis Joyce, Director of the Swan’s Island Educational Society, is very excited that construction has begun. “The new library building provides an opportunity for the community to have year-round heated space to use for meetings, browse through old photos, have a cup of coffee, chat with friends and neighbors, or curl up with a good book in front of the fireplace on a chilly winter afternoon. Programs and uses for the new facility will develop over time but we want it to be a building that is used and provides useful information and programs for the Swan’s Island community,” Joyce said.