The New Library Project

Library Building Project Chronology

1993 — 2006

--April, 1993.
Libraries section in Burrillville Town Comprehensive Plan notes "town should be encouraged to consider new library construction."

--September, 1997.
Burrillville Town Council appoints a 12-member Library Study needs Committee.

--July, 1998.
Agreeing with the Needs Committee's finding that the library is overcrowded and unsuited to future needs, the Town Council recommissions the Needs Committee to serve as Library Facilities Committee to move project forward.

--February, 1999.
Town Council authorizes giving $10,000 from Capital Improvement budget to Library Facilities Committee to begin ground work for construction of new town library.

--April 20, 2000.
The first full meeting of the Facilities Committee in Town Hall. The committee will meet 34 times through April 18, 2002. All meeting notices were posted online, at the library, and at Town Hall. Several were covered in the press.

--August, 2000.
Marjorie Judd hired as Consultant to develop Library Program outlining scope of needed facility. Public focus groups seeking public input held.

--January, 2001.
Final Report Judd Building Program presented. 23,000 sq. ft. library to fit needs of town thru year 2020 envisioned.

--January 25, 2001.
Public Hearing on redevelopment of the Stillwater Mill Complex finds overwhelming public support for moving municipal government and library to the proposed complex.

--July 25, 2001.
Town Council accepts Stillwater Master Plan, including library as the cornerstone of the revitalization project.

--December 12, 2001.
Town Council votes to issue Request for Proposal (RFP) for architect services to develop preliminary drawings for new library.

--October 3, 2003.
Town receives $910,000 grant from U.S. Dept. H.U.D. for Brownfields remediation on Stillwater properties.

--July 28, 2004.
Town Council unanimously approves expenditure of $346,350 and $5,000 of expenses to hire Newport Collaborative Architects to design the new library.

--November 2, 2004.
In a town-wide referendum, voters approve a $5-million bond toward construction of a new library at the Stillwater complex.

--April, 2005.
Seven-member Library Building Committee appointed by the Town Council sworn in by Town Clerk Louise Phaneuf. The committee begins meeting with the architect to refine the library design and address the substantial challenge of developing a site with more than a century-and-a-half of industrial debris.

--April, 2006.
The Library Capital Campaign Committee chooses as its slogan "Jesse Smith Library— Cornerstone of the Community."

--July 27, 2006.
Library Building Committee Chairman Victor Antoniello signs the contract with E. W. Burman Construction Company of Warwick for the new library.

--September 24, 2006.
Groundbreaking.