Library Shoots Down Rumors It Doesn't Support Municipal Complex

North Hampton Public Library officials say their true feelings about the proposed $6.1 million municipal complex plan couldn't be further from the claims portrayed in a series of rumors that have been circulating around the community.

Kelly Parrott, the chair of the library trustees and the library's representative on the town's Municipal Facilities Committee, said she and Library Director Susan Grant have heard rumors that the library doesn't fully support the project because the new library won't be located on the Homestead property.

While the library did originally ask for the Homestead property as the location of their new building, Parrott said that request was done before there was any discussion about the municipal complex plan and before selectmen approved the idea for creating the campus on Atlantic Avenue.

In reality, the library and its trustees are "very pleased" with the new design and location of the overall project as it moves forward to the Feb. 1 deliberative session and the March 11 town meeting.

"We are super excited to be a part of the town campus," said Parrott. "We are thrilled to be at the center of the town campus. It's going to be a beautiful design with our two historic buildings being book-ends of the [project].

"I think it's going to be a really dynamic space that takes care of our needs for generations... We're very excited about the way the plan looks."

The library is responsible for raising half of the cost of the new library, which will be roughly $2 million. Parrott said the fundraising is "going very well" and that the trustees currently have "just over $300,000" in the bank toward the project.

That total doesn't include contributions from a number of pledged donors and potential donors, including money from a "major donor" who is expected to contribute at least a sizable portion of the total needed for a new library, according to Parrott.

Parrott said the fundraising process is "very sensitive," though, and declined to speak in more detail about the "major donor" or disclose more concrete numbers about the "good deal of money" already "earmarked" for the library.

The trustees hope to receive the big donation before town meeting, and Parrott said the fundraising will continue past March 11 until they reach their goal.

"We know raising the amount of money we're looking for will take time," she said. "It will take more time than March to raise that, and we've been up front about that."

She said they are "very pleased at the progress thus far," though.

The trustees are "really looking forward to the deliberative session," according to Parrott — especially so since the town has moved the location of the meeting from Town Hall to North Hampton School in order to accommodate what is expected to be a large turnout for just the municipal complex project.

Parrott said it will be important to "really get the word out and get everyone to understand the progress made so far and why the town campus is necessary" in order to make sure that the article passes at town meeting.

"I'm very optimistic [that will be possible]," said Parrott, who said she has encountered "more supporters than detractors" for the municipal complex project. "I'm very encouraged by the feedback I've received."

A digital copy of the municipal complex plan, complete with three-dimensional architectural renderings, can be found here.