The basement meeting room at the Verona Public Library gets a lot of use from scouts and Verona-based clubs. It also gets a lot of abuse, from storms that have caused water and snow to flow down the outside stairs and through the foundation.
Now, more than two decades since its last makeover, the meeting room is finally getting a lot of love. The town’s Building & Grounds staff–Len Waterman, Rich Maly and Steve Neale–is ripping out damaged walls, studs, flooring and ceiling tiles, and giving the room a fresh new look. All of the work will be done in-house, except for the installation of new flooring.
The work will cost less than $15,000, all to be paid out of the Library’s maintenance budget (Director Jim Thomas has been saving up) and the town’s capital budget. And it comes two years after work to the Library’s landscaping and drainage system that eliminated water run-off into the building and closed off one of the two outside staircases that previously led downstairs, so it is likely to stay fresh for a long time.
The renovations will last through the end of January. Groups that are currently booked to use the room are being accommodated, but no new groups are being allowed to book meetings.
