Penacook library branch to close doors Monday, reopen at new home in December
Published: 11-15-2024 3:28 PM |
The Penacook branch of the Concord Public Library will close its doors for good on Monday in preparation of its move to the newly unveiled Penacook Community Center.
Dating back to the start of the 20th century, the 3 Merrimack St. building has housed the library for more than 75 years. The city has planned to sell it and, as a farewell project, city librarians are collecting stories and personal histories of time spent there.
Over the next few weeks, library materials will be moved to the new space, which will open to the public on Dec. 5.
The new, $6 million Penacook Community Center on Community Drive was built by the Boys and Girls Club and much of it serves as a day care. The city purchased a portion of the project for $1.3 million to house the new library branch in 2022.
The new library will be open on Mondays from 9 a.m – 3 p.m., Thursdays from 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. and Fridays from noon – 6 p.m., with programming for seniors in the middle of the day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
With the current building having an assessed value of just over $330,000, the city opted to move the library to a new facility rather than to dive into a renovation, which estimates said would have cost nearly $1 million and left outstanding accessibility and parking issues. The Heritage Commission has been drawing up a deed restriction that would ensure the historic building is preserved if it were sold, and there has been some private interest in turning it into housing, according to minutes of the group’s November meeting.
Those wishing to contribute to the history project for the current library can contact santhony@concordnh.gov.
Catherine McLaughlin can be reached at cmclaughlin@cmonitor.com
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