A plan is firmly in place to get work started on the Columbia-Marion County Public Library after it sustained severe damage from the December tornado.
A temporary location on Main Street is expected to be open by June 1, while the main branch on Broad Street is expected to reopen in early 2021. It’s been closed since a Dec. 16, 2019, tornado tore off the roof.
Architect Steve Cox informed the Board of Supervisors Monday that 99% of the plans to repair and potentially make improvements to the library are complete and are ready to be advertised for bids. The public notice is expected to run in the May 28 edition of The Columbian-Progress.
Cox said the roof, flooring, finishing and ceiling are being replaced as part of the repairs. The entire job is expected to take 180 calendar days to be completed and would likely lead to the library reopening in either January or February.
Cox said there are also a few things the library needs renovations on that might not fall under the insurance claim. The first alternate is to replace wood panels between the building’s windows, which Cox said “show their age,” with metal paneling. The second would be to create a 12-by-12-foot office on the first floor for the librarians, per their request, in the area that used to be the garage by installing two partitions, a door and a window. The final alternate would be reconfiguring the men’s bathroom on the first floor to turn it into a unisex, handicap-accessible restroom.
District 5 Supervisor Calvin Newsom said the alternates would be included in the plans for bid so the board could see what the cost would be to have them done. Then the board will check with Eddie Ray Breakfield, the county’s insurance agent, to see if insurance would cover them.
Cox said the contract includes having a portion of the library ready for voting in August for Columbia’s municipal elections. Circuit Clerk Janette Nolan, who was in attendance, said the area needs to have a handicap-accessible entrance, be big enough for a couple of booths and a check-in table for three poll workers and have a restroom. Branch Director Mona Swayze said the rear entrance is the most handicap-accessible so it was agreed the voting area should be in the back of the library.
The library began moving into the former Jan Marie’s Upscale Flea Market building on Main Street in January as a temporary location, but with COVID-19 it has yet to open. Ryda Worthy, director of South Mississippi Regional Library, which includes the libraries in Marion and Jeff Davis counties, said one of the issues has been not having internet there, but high-speed internet will be installed Friday.
When it does open, it will be using curbside service to avoid having people coming inside. Worthy added the library staff has started getting books and shelving ready.
“By June 1, we will have a library in this community again. We’ll be open for service,” she said.
The library has been in the building owned by Mickey Webb for the past few months and will begin paying rent, covered by insurance, next month. Worthy and Swayze thanked the board for all of its help getting them back up and running following the tornado.
