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With an expected re-opening just four months away, Patchogue-Medford Library officials on Monday invited the media and community leaders to tour the historic Carnegie Library that’s being renovated on West Main Street.
10 photos by Benny Migliorino/Benny Migs Photo
The renovation work is progressing nicely, with 30 new windows just two weeks away from arriving in Patchogue Village, said project manager Ivan Carrasquillo.
“Most what you see unfinished here is already very much in progress,” Carrasquillo said from inside. “As for all the masonry on the outside, we’re just waiting for a few more nice days like this and that will be all finished up.”
Tycoon Andrew Carnegie funded the $10,000 building as a gift to Patchogue Village, according to a New York Times article from 1905. It opened in 1908. The building had been vacant since 1998, when Briarcliffe College stopped using it.
The $1.3 million renovation project is being helped along with a $1 million donation from an anonymous benefactor, as well as library capital funds and various, ongoing fundraisers.
The library plans to use the building for special events, as well as teen and young adult services. It will stay open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. for after school use and homework programs.
The Greater Patchogue Historical Society will also utilize space in the building’s basement for permanent displays and meetings.
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“This truly is a community project,” said library director Lauren Nichols, who added that an older visitor and supporter on Monday was reminiscing about her time in the summer reading program at Carnegie Library years back.
“We have people coming out and helping on this from all walks of life,” Nichols said.
