It’s been almost a year since the Springfield City Council voted to take the former Mason Square Library building at 765 State Street by eminent domain and restore it to its original purpose. And the Springfield Urban League—which bought the building, in a secretive and controversial deal, in 2003—has yet to move out.
But library officials and supporters are already looking forward to the day when the neighborhood will get back full library services. According to Lee Fogarty, director of the Springfield Library Department, the latest word from the city Law Department is that the Urban League—whose efforts to find a new home haven’t exactly exhibited a sense of urgency—will be out of the building by Sept. 30. And Fogarty is still hoping to see the library re-open by November, a target date set earlier this year.
“I’m not saying Nov. 1,” she added with a laugh.
Before that long-awaited day, some major work has to be done to 765 State. The building needs a new roof, as well as smaller repairs, such as fixing broken window panes. Fogarty referred the Advocate to the city’s Facilities Management department for a complete list and cost estimates of the repairs. Patrick Sullivan, director of Parks and Facilities Management, did not respond to a call from the paper.
Whatever the cost, it will be picked up by the Springfield Library Foundation, a nonprofit that oversees an endowment, left by the late Annie Curran, for library services in Mason Square. The Foundation has also agreed to pay for the cost of acquiring the building from the Urban League, as well as to cover the agency’s relocation costs.
Fogarty speaks excitedly of plans for the re-opened library: a refreshed community room; an outside area with performance space and a teaching garden for kids; an employment resource area and 20 new computers, funded by a grant from the Gates Foundation; a comfy reading area by the big window that overlooks State Street; a built-in play house in the children’s room, with a reading area named “Annie’s Porch,” in honor of the library’s late benefactor. Work has already begun in the backyard garden area, so kids participating in the summer reading program—themed “Going Green”—can enjoy the space.
While the November opening is a target date that could change, “I think we really have to focus on that as a goal,” Fogarty said.
“I can’t wait,” she added. “It’s going to be gorgeous.”
And will there be a celebration to mark the grand re-opening of Mason Square’s library? “Absolutely,” Fogarty said. “Huge.”
