By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CORNISH — The fervent debate in Cornish on the future of the town’s library will come to a final vote on March 18.
Signs in town urge residents to vote yes or no on Article 6 at the upcoming town meeting. ‘Save the Stowell,’ a group that supports the current library building, is driving the vote no campaign.
Warrant Article 6 asks voters to accept or reject Colleen O’Neill’s gift of the Cornish Flat General Store to be used as the new home for the Cornish Library and Community Center.
Save the Stowell members are concerned about the potential costs of accepting and operating the new building, in addition to the loss of the historic George H. Stowell Free Library.
After O’Neill offered to donate the building via written correspondence at a selectboard meeting, a feasibility group was formed. The Library Exploratory Committee (LEC) studied the proposal for 16 months. In a 4-3 vote, it decided the town should move forward. The three who voted against the plan were asked to create reports outlining why they opposed the move.
LEC member Larry Dingee wrote that he believed the library trustees weren’t acting in accordance with their job description. He said trustees have been working to dissolve the Stowell library in their pursuit of the new building, and that one trustee even said the current building could be sold to finance the new building.
“Over the last two years, the trustees have been actively engaged in the desire to create another library in town, which the natural conclusion of that, if successful, would be the dissolution of the G.H Stowell Library as a legal entity,” Dingee wrote.
That type of plan is not unprecedented in the area. The town of Sunapee sold their former library and built the new Abbott Library at 11 Soonipi Circle.
The current Cornish library does not have running water, ADA-compliant bathrooms, ADA-compliant accessibility, or on-site parking. Some members of Save the Stowell and LEC said an architectural plan to fix the ADA deficiencies is being overlooked.
That repair plan would connect the current library to the Historical Society site by building a ramp to a connecting room with bathrooms. A parcel of land has been purchased to install a septic system to accommodate those restrooms.
Dingee added there is no evidence the School Street right-of-way is not adequate parking. He added that after living in Cornish for 25 years, he has observed that the street has never been so congested that safe passage wouldn’t be possible.
Other residents are concerned about the potential soft costs, such as furniture, which are estimated to be $400,000 to $600,000. However, that is the only such cost itemized for the proposal. Given the Cornish Community Initiative (CCI) has five years to raise funds before losing the Cornish Flat General Store as library space, some community members are anxious about how the Stowell Library would operate in the meantime in its current condition.
Dillon Gallagher, a selectboard representative and an opponent of the proposal, wrote that he is concerned that using the former general store would deprive the town of the only viable retail space in the Flat Village District.
“There would never again be a location to house a country store or other large retail venue,” Gallagher wrote. “In years past, this building housed a store, a branch of the Claremont Savings Bank, and other small retailers.”
In Heidi Jaarsma’s report, she spoke of the town’s duty to George H Stowell and his gift of the library building. This sentiment is shared by many who seek to honor the Stowell’s legacy by preserving the current library.
If residents do vote to keep the legacy building, the estimated construction costs are roughly $1.9 million.
Voting will be at the Cornish Elementary School on Saturday, March 18, at 10 a.m.
For more information regarding the changes, please read these previous Eagle Times articles:
February 25, 2023: The Showdown Over Stowell
https://www.eagletimes.com/news/the-showdown-over-stowell/article_98976212-6a47-57aa-a5b8-654b6bf1a39a.html
March 11, 2023: ‘Better Than We Found It’: Colleen O’Neill Discusses Plans for Cornish Library
https://www.eagletimes.com/news/better-than-we-found-it-colleen-oneill-discusses-plans-for-cornish-library/article_271b7c7b-263a-5016-8a8f-c9e5622d6279.html
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