Waldinger Library to get fresh look

Valley Stream’s library will soon be getting an updated look. New canopies will be installed over the main and children’s room entrances this summer.

The Henry Waldinger Library was built in 1962 and the canopy over the main entrance has never been replaced. Library Director Mamie Eng said that it is rusting and rotting, though it poses no safety issue. Overall, she said, it just looks run down.

It will be replaced with a new canopy similar to the one at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City. The top will be arch-shaped and made of translucent canopy panels to allow sunlight through.

The metal awning over the children’s room entrance, which was added several years after the library was built, will also be replaced. Eng said that will be a half-arch and made of the same material as the front canopy. There will also be a wall constructed along the side, to prevent the patio and stairs from icing up in the winter. It will also be made of the translucent panels to allow sunlight through. “If you come in through the children’s entrance now,” she said, “it’s very dark, and that’s with the sun.”

Eng said lighting will also be improved to make it much brighter underneath the canopies at night.

In 2006, the interior of the library was renovated. New windows and a new roof have also been installed in recent years, and outside brick work has been repaired. Village Clerk Vinny Ang said the canopies have not been addressed. “They’re kind of in poor shape,” he said. “It’s a needed upgrade to the building.”

The project will cost about $150,000. A public library construction grant, secured by Assemblyman Bob Barra, will cover about $45,000. The village will pick up the rest of the cost. Ang said they will use money received from the South Valley Stream Library District.

Ang said that bids were opened last week and the project’s engineer will review those and make a recommendation to the village board. The contract will likely be awarded in May, and work completed over the summer. “It will move quick,” Ang said. “With the weather breaking, it will be a good time to do this.”

The project will be coordinated so that the library can remain open during construction. Eng said she will be exploring another grant to have the steps at the main entrance replaced the following year.

In 2012, the library will celebrate its 50th anniversary at its current location. Eng said that the canopy work will “complete the package” of recent improvements to the building. “It’s going to brighten up the place,” she said. “I think the public will be pleased.”