By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Wood County District Public Library trustees took another step toward building a carriage house as a companion to the Carter House.
The structure would contain space for the library’s maintenance department as well as materials storage on a second floor.
On Monday, the trustees approved a contract with Kleinfelder in Bowling Green to provide design professional services for $25,900.
Library Director Michael Penrod said that he appreciates that the library has a long history with firm dating back to when it was Poggemeyer Design Group.
The library sent requests for bids to seven firms, and only two submitted them. One, Penrod said, made it clear they really weren’t interested in the job because of its distance from Columbus.
The firm submitted a bid anyway he said, “because they love us.”
Given the paucity of bids, Penrod made the decision.
The board’s resolution hired Kleinfelder to do the programming basic services for the design and authorizing the library director to negotiate and finalize terms.
Penrod said it was a matter of “putting the dream down on paper and then matching up the costs. That’s the whole design phase.”
Once that is completed it will up to the board to decide whether to actually go ahead with the construction. That will involve another bidding process.
The project was first mentioned in late 2023 when the trustees decided to forego a more extensive renovation and expansion of the library.
The initial plans call for a two-story 5,600 square foot facility that would sit to the north of the Carter House on North Church Street. The idea is to design it in a simplified Italianate Victorian style to match the design of the Carter House, which was built about 1877.
[RELATED: Library to build ‘carriage house’ to address maintenance & storage needs]
Penrod said after the meeting that there is not a timetable yet on the project. “This is a matter of aligning the dream with fiscal realities.”
