When the doors at the Rostraver Public Library open later this month, a new chapter will begin.
"I am stunned by the generosity of people," said library director Ruth Ann Zupan. "It's just amazing."
The $1.5 million project came to fruition through the generosity of the community, Zupan added. "The whole thing has been built and paid for by private donations and grant agencies," she said.
The 8,000-square-foot, one-story building on the hill at Willowbrook and Willowpoint plazas in Rostraver Township is nearly complete, except for last-minute touches such as waxing floors, cleaning windows and making minor repairs.
The books have been transferred from the old location on Fellsburg Road that started out as the Fells Methodist Church in 1785.
According to Zupan, once furniture has been moved in and the computers get hooked up, it will be time to let patrons come in and that will happen later this month. A date has not yet been set.
A grand opening will occur later in the year, possibly in March.
"We think it will take us a couple of months to get organized," Zupan said.
Walking around in the new library with an inviting color scheme of sand, burgundy and burnt orange, Zupan was all smiles.
"We had no idea we were going to have such a beautiful view," she said.
Features of the new space include an outdoor patio, a quiet room, a work room, staff lounge, staff restroom, a director's office, a community room and a Pennsylvania Room for genealogy research and state documents.
While a new library was talked about for years, it wasn't a reality until one patron presented the library with a check for $25,000 and pledged to match up to $200,000 per year in funds donated by others to build a modern library.
Once the funds were in place, the library board asked John Maisch, a retired junior executive for General Motors who now lives in Rostraver Township, to help in the fundraising effort. Additionally, Teeter Associates Inc. of Greensburg was hired to help the fundraising by pursuing major grants from charitable foundations and trusts.
Working with the Rostraver Township commissioners, the library identified potential locations, ultimately deciding on property adjacent to the Willow Point Plaza along Route 51.
Originally the library board hoped to build a $2 million, two-story building with a tower, a covered entranceway and a metal roof, but Maisch said between the time the artists' rendering of the building was designed and ground was broken, the price of building materials increased.
The architect, The Lettrich Group Architects Inc. of Charleroi, drew up new plans to make it more feasible financially.
The 2.2 acres of land on which the library was built was donated by Jay and Sherry Lustig.
A ceremonial groundbreaking took place in the fall of 2004 and a construction began in earnest in October 2005. The primary contractor is New Belle Construction of Rostraver Township.
When asked how he feels now that the building is done, Maisch said: "In a word -- relieved."
"It's taken a long time," said Maisch, adding there were roadblocks -- some unexpected.
Maisch added that costs went up while the building was under construction, so there some unforeseen bills.
"It's really no problem at all," Maisch said. "People are calling us and asking what they can give."
"It's wonderful," agreed Zupan. "It's a new chapter for the library and it's a new challenge. I mean our expenses here are going to be much greater than what they were at Fells Church, so we're going to be heavily involved in fundraising.
"We had a very successful gala last year and will have another one Aug. 24 with E Studio Band," she added.
Zupan hopes citizens realize the importance of a community library.
"I think that libraries are one of the most American institutions we have, because in a democracy people have to have equal access to information and that's what a library means," she said. "If you buy one book -- some of those children's books are $25 or $30 apiece -- and a lot of people cannot afford that, but this gives them equal access."
She said the library aims to attract students in middle school and high school.
"The group we want to target now is that young adult and that's where we're going to start building our collection," said Zupan, adding she's planning to work with the librarians in the school district this summer to encourage students to continue to read and keep up.
Zupan gave credit to Thomas Edward Evans, 16, of Rostraver Township, who volunteered to move the books as part of his requirements for the Eagle Scout award. Evans completed the task before he was involved in a one-vehicle accident Dec. 14 on Fells Church Road. Evans was a passenger in the car driven by Jared C. Giarusso, 18, of Rostraver Township, who was fatally injured.
