CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A number of major building projects are in the works for the Cleveland/Bradley County Public Library, including a proposed change to the layout of the low stone wall that partially encloses the main library campus at the junction of Ocoee and 8th streets.
Those plans call for transplanting the 8th Street wall sections to extend the wall frontage along Ocoee Street.
“This is to create a common front off of our main viewpoint,” said Andrew Hunt, director of the library. “This is bringing continuity to our whole property on the Ocoee Street side.”
The wall, which forms a corner around the Jarnigan House, the library’s northern anchor building, is of historic value, Hunt said. Sections will only be moved, not sold or removed from the library campus, he said.
Reconfiguring the stone wall is not only a matter of aesthetics, but of safety, said John Hagler, chairman of the library’s board of trustees.
The realigned wall will create a continuous barrier that will contribute to the safety of children’s events held in the library’s courtyard and lawn, he said.
Preservation of the 8th Street wall sections is another concern, said Hagler, citing a number of bumps and scrapes caused by passing vehicles.
On 8th Street, the stone wall stands close to the edge of the road, but on Ocoee Street the wall has more space, he said.
The lowest and best bid for the project was $38,000, Hagler said. Work is not expected to begin before March 1.
The library’s history branch building, which faces Lee University from the other side of Ocoee Street, also will benefit from a major upkeep project.
Hagler said the exterior brick of that facility will undergo repointing, which entails removing and replacing a depth of mortar between the bricks. The process also calls for cleaning and waterproofing the brick, he said.
The project, which was bid at $68,000 and also is expected to begin after March 1, is intended to strengthen the historic structure, Hagler said.
Hunt said both projects, which amount to $106,000, will be funded privately, not through tax dollars.
The two building and grounds projects are just the first of a sequence of proposed improvements for the main library and the history branch, Hagler said.
He said future history branch upgrades include relocating the building’s electrical box’s from the porch and possibly running its power lines underground.
Private donors also would like to see programs intended to increase the community’s usage of the history branch’s genealogical and archival, Hagler said.
Other needs for the main library campus grounds facing Ocoee Street include a new lighting system, concrete walkway replacement and improved irrigation, he said.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.