Target Date For Re-Opening Main Framingham Library: Post Memorial Day

FRAMINGHAM, MA - The main Framingham Library likely will not open before Memorial Day weekend, at the earliest, according town officials.

The library has been closed since Saturday, Oct. 17, when two subcontractors were seriously injured during an “electrical explosion” in the basement.Both workers suffered serious burns, but worker had second and third degree burns over more than 36 percent of his body. He was released from the hospital and is doing rehab.

Work finally began on fixing the electrical problems in the building in January. Electrical repairs are 75 percent complete said Framingham Director of Facilities Management James Paolini.

The 40-year old main Library on Lexington Street, had to be brought up to code, while electrical systems were repaired, explained Paolini.

But the big project is cleaning the soot from thousands and thousands of books, and from computers, furniture, carpet and the rest of the 50,000-plus square foot building.

“This will be one of the most expensive cleanings in Framingham ever,” said Paolini, who could not put a dollar figure on the cost Wednesday morning, Feb. 17.

Previous estimated from Framingham Town Manager Bob Halpin, had the cost for repairs at more than $1 million.

There is soot and smoke damage to the collection, said Library Director Mark Contois.

“While we know residents are anxious for the main library to re-open,” said Contois. “We need to be smart about the cleanup. We need to do it right.”

Every book in the library needs to be cleaned, said Contois.

“We have hired a cleaning company, that specializes in this,” said Paolini. They will use a non-chemical sponge to wipe each book and then vacuum each book before returning it to the shelves.

The cost can range from $12 to $15 per square foot.

With 22 cleaners per floor, it would take 7 to 10 days to complete one level in the three-level library, explained Paolini.

But each shelf in the building, the walls, the carpet, the ducts, the ceiling, etc, all have to be cleaned, explained Paolini.

After that is completed, an industrial hygiene expert will need to visit the building and inspect it, to see if it is soot-free.

The town has been moving money from accounts to do repairs thus far, but now with a large six-figure cleaning expense ahead of them, Town Meeting will need to authorize money for the repairs.

Framingham has a Special Town Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Building.

“We can’t move forward now, until Town Meeting authorize the money,” said Paolini.

One of the reasons for the previous delays was the investigations by fire marshals and the insurance companies, including the Town’s insurance carrier Travelers Insurance Company.

OSHA took the building for three weeks alone, after the explosion, said Paolini. Each investigator and marshal, documented damage with photographs and then painstakingly removed items to be reviewed at a lab.

It was a long, documented process, said Paolini.

Back in October, it was thought the main Library could re-open in early 2016.

During the tours of the McAuliffe Library branch in Nobscot this month, Trustees were hopeful for a March or April opening of the main library, but Paolini said it will be May, at the earliest.

He said if Town Meeting authorizes the money, that the library could open around Memorial Day, again at the earliest. Memorial Day is Monday, May 30 in 2016.

Contois said the Library staff and Trustees are making decisions to save the money but to get the library open, as  quickly as possible.

For example, magazine in the building may need to be destroyed as it would be too expensive to complete an “ozone cleaning” on issues. So the library is looking at either ordering back issues hard copies or electronic copies.

One issue still to be resolved is is the library’s existing computers are salvageable. Paolini said a expert was flown up from Florida to conducts tests and they are waiting on results. The computers could be cleaned or may need to be tossed and replaced.

Contois said he was happy to hear that the historical archives on the top floor of he library appear to be soot-free. He said they were enclosed in glass, which protected them. They will be inspected before the library re-opens.

Yesterday, the Christa McAuliffe Library branch opened on Water Street in Nobscot. The former McAuliffe branch in Saxonville closed on Friday. The new $8.6 million branch library is almost three times the size of the former branch.

With the main library closed since mid-October, that McAuliffe branch has seen a 50 percent increase in usage, said Contois.

The McAuliffe branch is now open Sundays, with the main Library closed.

To provide service near the main Library for residents, a pop-up library opened in the former St. Stephen’s School in downtown Framingham.

“We have not cancelled a program, nor have we not scheduled a program due to the closure,” said Contois.

Instead programming has been re-located all over town, including the Memorial Building, the Senior Center and at the Framingham History Center’s Edgell Memorial Library.

The library’s Homework Center for K-12 students is operating out of the Boys & Girls Club of MetroWest on Pearl Street.

One part of the library that has been hurt by the closure is the Friends of the Framingham Library’s monthly book sales. A sale was schedule for Saturday Oct. 17. It was cancelled and no sale has been held since. The Friends launched a campaign to raise $30,000.

The main Library between January and June 2015 had more than 300,000 items borrowed from its shelves. More than 80 percent of items circulated do come from the shelves.

There were more than 30,000 uses of in library Internet between that 6-month period.

And more than 23,000 uses of reference services between January and June 2015. (For more details on library use during that 6 month period, see attached graphic from the Framingham Public Library.)