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After 22 months of planning, fundraising and meetings, Peninsula Community Library (PCL) is set to break ground on their new library. The groundbreaking will take place on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m. on the building site at the corner of Center Road and Island View Road. Everyone in the community is welcome to attend and be part of the celebration.
“Today is just an incredible day,” said PCL Director Vicki Shurly at a meeting this week. “To be at this point after just 22 months reflects the efforts of so many people. I still cannot fathom that we’re actually breaking ground this month. I am so ecstatic.”
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After receiving bids from four general contractors, the PCL Building Committee narrowed that number to two and presented the final bids to the PCL Board, who then had five days to mull them over. After careful consideration, the Board voted unanimously to hire Grand Traverse Construction to build the new library. Work will begin after the groundbreaking, with an anticipated completion date of June 2019.
PCL Board President Heatherlyn Johnson Reamer said they are finishing up the final permit process and “within the next two weeks, you will see it happen,” she said. “There will be a contractor there, they will be digging a hole, dirt will be moved, and we are so, so excited.”
She added that PCL will work with Old Mission Peninsula School, where the library is currently located, during the move to ensure that the school has a great school library. PCL will continue to offer the school outreach programs and materials after the move to the new building.
To date, PCL has raised just over $2 million of their $2.5 million fundraising goal. Reamer stressed that the fundraising will continue throughout the building process, noting that some donors have been waiting to get to this point before committing to the project.
“We still have a half-million dollars to raise,” she said. “Our job isn’t done, but I do have faith that this last half-million dollars will come in.”
PCL Board Member John Bercini added that everything included in the floor plans, renderings and fundraising literature, including the carriage house, is in the final bid. “That’s important to realize,” he said. “There have been no substantive changes, and we did not need to compromise on anything.”
Nancy Davy, President of the Friends of PCL whose anchor donation of $750,000 with her husband Bill was a pivotal point in the fundraising, thanked the PCL Board for all of their hard work.
“Every one of the board members took this very seriously,” said Davy. “They did their due diligence, asked lots of questions, continuously assessed and re-assessed, and put their heart and soul into this. We’re very grateful to have such conscientious board members. They’ve taken on this monumental challenge and they’ve always kept the community in their minds and hearts throughout the process.”
For more information on how you can make a donation to the new Peninsula Community Library, visit the library’s website, call the library, (231) 223-7700, or call PCL Board member John Bercini, (630) 235-1475.
You’re also welcome to support the new library by buying a brick. Click here for more information.
Here are a few renderings of the new library.
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