Historic Moffat Library Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony

Historic Moffat Library Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony

PRESS RELEASE – May 24, 2016

The community of Washingtonville, New York celebrated the start of a building process to “Restore, Renew and Reimagine” the Moffat Library of Washingtonville on Wednesday, April 6th with an official groundbreaking ceremony at the library.

Rendered uninhabitable by flooding during Hurricane Irene in 2011, and turned over to the Moffat Library Board of Trustees by the Town of Blooming Grove in 2013, the Board secured the services of Butler Roland Mays Architects to work with the Board and staff to develop a building plan to present to the Washingtonville community.  A successful Washingtonville School District Referendum vote in March, 2015 to secure a $6.92 million bond to restore and enlarge the library building passed with overwhelming support from the community.

Designated as a historic landmark and placed on the National Register in 1994, the Moffat Library was designed by architect George Edward Harney in the Queen Anne style in 1887.  The library’s landmark tower features an original Howard clock and the roof of the formal entrance is supported by elaborately scrolled Greek columns. The renovation plan will preserve these and other 19th century historical elements, while incorporating 21st century technology and design.

The renovation, redesign and expansion of the building will feature an open-floor plan, the newest technologies and cost-efficient heating and cooling systems, in a park-like, landscaped setting that will “revitalize the Village of Washingtonville’s downtown,” said David Heintz, Mayor of Washingtonville, at the library’s long-awaited groundbreaking.

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