GREENUP — Four decades after its founding, the Greenup County Public Library wants to build a new home.
Now quartered in a converted funeral home, the library wants a completely new building in Greenup. It has branches in Flatwoods and South Shore with relatively new structures.
The library’s board of trustees has been considering two locations, one in downtown Greenup and the other on U.S. 23.
The downtown location is on the 500 block of Main Street. It includes a former auto dealership and several adjoining buildings. The U.S. 23 location is at the intersection of Ky. 2 and is mostly vacant. The board has not bought any property yet.
Director Dorothy Griffith favors the U.S. 23 location and said the downtown site has major problems that would make it more expensive.
Board member Roger Reed prefers the downtown setting and said he is hearing the same from Greenup residents.
Preparing the Main Street site for building would cost roughly three times as much as the highway site, because it would have to be elevated above the 100-year flood level and possibly treated for hazardous material contamination, Griffith said. She provided documents from an engineering study that indicate that demolishing the buildings, removing hazardous materials and raising the site would cost an estimated $1.2 million. Preparing the other site would involve demolishing two small buildings and some treatment of the soil and would cost an estimated $345,000, according to the same documents.
The figures do not include the cost of the property, she said.
Reed wants to keep the library downtown. “I feel the library is more suited to a downtown setting,” he said. He acknowledged concerns about the site but said it is possible the current owner may take on the expense of removing the contamination, or there may be government funding for the removal.
The contamination is believed to be the result of gasoline stored on the property.
Reed disputes the figures Griffith cited and said the asking price of the downtown property —$180,000 — would offset the cost of site work because the highway property owner is asking $500,000 for that parcel.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.
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