Solvay Public Library

In anticipation of the Solvay Public Library’s 100th Anniversay in 2005, the Library Board of Trustees began the process of addressing the needs of the facility in 2000.  This Library is one of three in the county originally funded with construction seed money from Andrew Carnegie and the only one in the county still in public use. The Library serves the Town of Geddes and Village of Solvay and houses Solvay Process Company archives (www.clrc.org/solvay).  It is a member of the Onondaga County Public Library System.  The grand Greek revival, yellow brick and oak paneled building, likened to the Acropolis, requires patrons to climb ten steps to enter.

            The goal of the Library’s Centennial Building Project is to preserve the building for future generations and to renovate it so that it may remain a public use building as well as meet the changing demands of the community.  When originally designed in 1903, the steep stairs leading to the main entrance gave the Library an impressive, stately appearance.  Throughout the years, however, the steep stairs proved to be a barrier, making the Library inaccessible to the handicapped and disabled.  Seniors and parents with young children find entry to the building difficult, too.

            In 1920, the Solvay Public Library had 9,539 holdings and circulated 24,420 books and magazines.   In 2004, the Library had 26,074 holdings and circulated 113, 261 items, now including DVD’s, books-on-tape, music CD’s, and videotapes.  Growth of the collection and addition of media materials and computers has made the library space cramped and inefficient.  Library holdings have increased 48% in the past 20 years and circulation has increased 100%, from 49,352 to 98,716.  The electrical system is terribly overloaded.  Library staff has virtually no space to organize their work and store supplies.  Poor drainage around the building has threatened the historic landmark’s foundation with hydrostatic pressure and has resulted in years of water seepage and interior flooding.  With a cooperative Village Board and centennial anniversary, the Library Board of Trustees determined that the time had come to address the building’s problems.

            The Solvay Public Library was cited as one of the key institutions in the Village of Solvay’s Vision Committee survey.  Located across the street from the Solvay Elementary School, the Library rests at the crossroads of the Village.  A Centro bus stop is on this corner.  The Library is walking distance from the Solvay High School and the Solvay Youth Center.   Preschoolers at Learn as You Grow daycare walk to the Library every Friday during fair weather for storyhour in the Community Room.   Concerts and performances are held on the Library front lawn.  The Library also provides tutoring space for Literacy Volunteers, delivery of BOCES education material,  and bulk loans of large print material to Solvay Senior Apartments.  Recent Ukranian immigrants take advantage of tutoring space, Ukranian books, ESL materials, Internet access, job opportunities, and local educational and job market information.  Community groups such as Girl Scouts, the Solvay Red Hat Club, a book discussion group, and the Piercefield Women’s Club regularly meet in the Community Room, as well as, training workshops for the local daycare center and Kidspeace.  Since 1987, the Solvay Public Library has held the archives (www.clrc.org/solvay) of the Solvay Process Company (Allied Chemical – Honeywell), which left the village in 1986.

Project Plan

PHASE 1 (completed):  To address the structural preservation issues, new drainage around the building will draw the water away from the foundation.  While the property was disrupted, a new parking lot was created on the east side of the building for direct entrance into the Community Room and overflow parking for the main lot.  Sanitary lines were repaired, new water lines run, utility conduits laid, new sidewalks installed, and new outdoor lighting placed.  Construction costs remained within budget.

PHASE 2:  An addition with an elevator and new entrances will be built to make the building handicapped accessible.  The addition will also include (1) new reading areas, (2) expanded area for storyhour and the children’s collection, (3) new and expanded circulation desk, (4) small meeting room, (5) new bathrooms, (6) new stairwell, (7) new computer lab, (8) records storage and staff work areas that do not exist at all now, and (9) a new environmentally controlled room for the Solvay Process Collection and local history.  Per NY State Historic Preservation Office(SHPO ) requirements, the grand Woods Road entrance will remain unchanged as an emergency exit.  The addition will allow the oak paneled reading rooms to remain the same, including the working fireplaces.  The children’s collection and program space will be moved to the lower level to take advantage of the Community Room, back patio, and ease of entrance.  Furnishings will include shelving, tables, chairs, and oak cabinetry salvaged from the local Hazard School, recently demolished.  The improved facility will allow greater participation in “non-traditional” library services, currently the fastest growing library programs.  A Building Committee of volunteers and staff experienced with construction meet regularly to review plans, resolve issues, and push the project forward.

PHASE 3:  The old and new building will be tied together with updated electrical work in the old part of the building, landscape finishing, HVAC updates, etc.

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