Last month, we talked about our landscaping project on the blog. (If you missed it, check it out here.) Today, we’re updating you with the latest information about this project, plus a look at our current pothole collection in the parking lot.

At March’s Board of Trustees meeting, the proposed budget for the landscaping project was approved. (Yay!!) Currently, we are in the pre-bidding process for a contractor and are waiting on new drawings from our engineer. After these drawings are received, we will go out to public bidding to hire a contractor for the project. At that point, we will have a more detailed timeline for when and how long construction will take.

We also have some breaking news from our parking lot: potholes are popping up like weeds! With the spring weather, it seems like flowers and trees aren’t the only things beginning to blossom, as new potholes in our back parking lot are springing up everywhere.

Here’s a look:

Clearly, we are in desperate need of a parking lot renovation! Not only is the surface utterly battered, but the flow of traffic is chaotic at best. Thankfully, when our outdoor renovation begins, we’ll be starting the process in the back and devoting our first work on improving this rear parking lot.

Our key areas of concern are redirecting how traffic navigates our parking lot and creating an outdoor programming space. The new changes will make the parking lot safer for pedestrians of all ages so that they are not walking in the line of traffic. Instead of exiting into the parking lot, traffic from the book drop will exit directly onto Elm Street and from there can turn right towards Main Street, left to enter the parking lot or continue on Elm, or go straight onto Locust Street.

We’ve had some misinformation floating around that Locust will become a one-way street. We can assure you, our renovations will have no impact on Locust Street. In a stranger twist of misinformation, someone said that we will be taking down the American Legion building. Again, not true. Nothing about our plans affects the American Legion. They’re our good neighbors and will continue to be. If you do have questions, please ask one of our staff to ensure you get accurate information. You can also visit our Landscape Improvements page to see the plan drawings and updates on our progress.

We are looking forward to getting this project underway soon! Watch out for those potholes and make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for real-time updates.