Funding for New North Dartmouth Library Approved
DARTMOUTH - Nearly all of the articles brought before Dartmouth Town Meeting Tuesday night passed.
One of the landmark votes was the approval of funding for a new library.
One of the architects assigned to the planning of the proposed library at 211 Cross Road, just north of the Potter Elementary School, says the current North Dartmouth Library on Tucker Road, constructed in 1962, is more than outdated.
"It's well past it's service life. It's quite small. It's woefully undersized given the circulation and the functions and events that are held there."
Town Meeting voted to appropriate $700,000 from Surplus Revenue and borrow $8.1 million to fund the construction. With previously appropriated funding, the cost for the project mounts to $10.5 million. The Town will effectively pay less than half that amount upon the project's completion, thanks to a $5.3 million grant from the state.
The proposed building will be a single-floor plan with just under 16,000 square feet. The new library will sport rooftop solar panels, which architects say will generate approximately 55% of the electricity the library consumes on a daily basis. Other green initiatives will also be implemented in the new building.
The article to approve the sale of the old Southworth Library on Elm Street was withdrawn, as the Select Board has voted to give the old Southworth Library Committee until March 15, 2018 to come up with a plan to lease the property.