CAPE ELIZABETH – A proposed site plan for a long-sought renovation and expansion project at Thomas Memorial Library is headed for a public hearing on Tuesday, July 15.

Library Director Jay Scherma said the hearing, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Cape Elizabeth Town Hall, will be a chance for library abutters and other members of the public to comment on the site plan and to ensure that all outstanding questions for the town’s engineer and the Planning Board have been “satisfactorily answered.”

The town’s Library Building Committee is seeking site plan approval this summer to give the public a better idea of what they will be voting on in the November referendum, which asks voters to approve borrowing $4 million for the library renovation project.

According to Scherma, the primary goal of the project is “to prepare an efficient and environmentally responsible facility for public library services capable of adapting to evolving technologies and trends that can serve the citizens of Cape Elizabeth for the next 25 years.”

In November 2012, voters rejected a referendum to borrow up to $6 million for construction of a new Thomas Memorial Library. The vote was 2,696 for and 3,566 against.

The Library Planning Committee at the time worked throughout the year to create a smaller-scale plan for building and renovation and hired Reed & Co. Architecture of Portland to help create it. On Dec. 9, 2013, the Town Council formed a five-member Library Building Committee to develop a building plan for renovating the library within a $4 million budget limit.

At a meeting on June 17, Planning Board members deemed the committee’s site plan “complete” and set the July 15 public hearing. At the hearing, the Planning Board will review the site plan and its conformance to Town Center zoning district standards.

Planning Board members completed a site walk at the library on June 25, after raising questions about plans for buffering between the library and private properties.

“At the site walk, the board looked at landscape buffers, which we expect will be further discussed at their upcoming meeting,” Scherma said. “We believe that our design team has been able to answer all the concerns of the Planning Board in its current iteration of the site plan.”

Renovations would increase the size of the library from about 14,500 square feet to 16,000 square feet.

According to the Thomas Memorial Library website, the original structure was built on Bowery Beach Road in 1849 as a one-room schoolhouse. In 1877, it was repaired and relocated to Fowler Road near the Spurwink Grange Hall.

After purchasing the building in 1919, a former teacher, William Widgery Thomas Jr. dedicated the schoolhouse as a gift to the town to use as a library. In 1944, the town decided to relocate the building to Scott Dyer Road, where it is still located.

The site plan indicates that a new 13,000-square-foot structure will replace the connector building between the library’s main building and the children’s library. In place of the old connector building, the plan calls for creating an outdoor “reading garden” and “family discovery space,” with a play area, complete with an enclosed aluminum fence, a decorative iron gate, stone pathways and benches.

Formerly the Pond Cove School annex, the existing main library that fronts Scott Dyer Road will be renovated to become more energy efficient. While the library’s lower level would become the children’s area and offer space for programs, the upper level would house the adult and young adult collections.

Fifty-three parking spaces, a total of 16 spaces more than required by Town Center design standards, would be created on what is now a grassy space for overflow parking. The library’s parking lot, according to the plans, will be redesigned with landscaped islands to add a drop-off zone for cars and buses.

According to Scherma, the Town Council appointed a study committee in the fall of 2007 in order to review library needs. Since that time, he said, “the library’s programs and building needs have undergone rigorous review and multiple plans have been developed.”

Consultants for the project include construction manager Zachau Construction Inc. of Freeport, architect Reed & Co. Architecture of Portland, civil and structural engineer Casco Bay Engineering of Portland, landscape architect Land Design Solutions of Cumberland, mechanical engineer Holbrook Engineering of Saco, electrical engineer Bartlett Design of Bath and interior designer Cole Design of Kittery.

The Library Building Committee will present the site plan to the Town Council in August for final approval, said Scherma. If approved, the council will hold another public hearing before sending the project to voters in a November referendum.

A CLOSER LOOK

A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15 at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall on a proposed site plan for renovating and expanding Thomas Memorial Library. A referendum vote on the project is set for Nov. 6.

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This image represents the latest design concept for the Thomas Memorial Library, as proposed by Reed & Co. Architecture of Portland. The firm was hired by the Library Building Committee to develop the building plan.