The plan to renovate E.C. Scranton Memorial library has encountered its share of challenges in the past months with a shift in architects, projected cost overruns, energy operating concerns, and the proposed elimination of the Hull Building. Now, as the committee works to stay on schedule, it has encountered yet another problem—the basement of the planned addition is below the water table.

The voter-approved renovation plan for the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library is a scaled-down version of the plan that Madison voters narrowly defeated in a 2008 referendum vote. Approved designs for the building work to preserve the historical architecture while improving the streetscape and expanding the floor plan. The square footage of the building will jump from 17,000 to 37,000 and a 45-space parking lot will be added.

The project to renovate the library is estimated to cost $15 million, but due to grants and fundraising efforts, the library asked the town to bond for $9.1 million.

The library had been working with LLB Architects prior to the referendum, but according to Library Director Beth Crowley, one of the major problems with LLB was its schematic design. When an independent cost estimate was developed after the referendum, the plan for the library would have exceeded the approved budget by about $2.5 million. The two parties struggled to come to terms and the library switched to Drummey Rosane Anderson, Inc. (DRA).

Over the last several weeks, the library has been meeting regularly to review the design of the building and come up with ways to reduce costs to keep the construction on budget. In late January, the committee seemed to be on track, but a survey conducted by environmental engineer GeoTech threw a wrench in the momentum.

The survey showed there is groundwater at nine feet below grade and in the current design for the new addition, the basement is deeper than nine feet. If the building basement is to stay where it is in the design, the committee would face expensive mitigating measures including possibly increasing the depth of the concrete slab, waterproofing procedures, and adding active water removal gear.

At the building committee meeting on Feb. 5, Angela Cahill of DRA said based on conversations with the cost estimator, the library is going to need to find some way to lift the basement out of the water table.

One option includes raising the whole building up about four feet. However, if the building is lifted up, the committee would have to look at adding extra ramps and stairs into the building to ensure the structure is ADA compliant. Committee member Billy Budd said the basement is a big problem.

“The basement is destroying the building,” he said. “Bringing it up four feet destroys the building and all you are doing is fighting with it every single time. We have to find a way around it because if there are ramps and stairs everywhere, we are not going to be looked upon well.”

Budd said the basement is adversely affecting the whole design of the building as well as the budget, so the committee is now looking to potentially eliminate the basement all together, putting the square footage elsewhere in the building by potentially expanding the first floor or maybe even adding a third floor.

As the committee awaits more details on ways to work around the basement, the committee and architect have identified other items in the building where costs can be reduced to keep the project on budget. Ideas include simplifying the envelope of the building, replacing some brick with siding, cutting some square footage out of the addition, leaning on the library trustees to pay for some items, and possibly deferring some items that could be considered maintenance to the Capital Improvement Program. The library needs to hit a roughly $11.4 million construction budget.

“This is really a first pass on where we can find some savings without hurting the building too much,” said Cahill. “Obviously the basement is the biggest decision here.”

How much square footage might have to be cut out of the building has its own problems besides cost. When the project was called for referendum, the plan was to add about 20,000 square feet and previous changes to the plan (not including any reduction in basement space) has the added square footage is a little closer to 17,000 square feet.

With a reduction in square footage in excess of 10 percent of the approved project design, the library will likely have to go back to the State Library, an organization that provided one of the project’s construction grants, to justify the reduction. While the committee did not seem too concerned about that because Cahill said having to make that justification is not uncommon, there is also the issue of the bond approved by town voters.

Members of the committee raised the point about the bond call and the change in square footage. First Selectman Tom Banisch said he has been in touch with the town attorney and bond counsel to see how much of a scope change could be tolerated before the project would have to go back to the voters again. Banisch said the attorney has advised him that there is no clear line as to what percentage change would render the vote null and attorneys would have to wait to see the new modified design before making any decision.

There was some good news that came out of the meeting. Crowley said she has found a temporary home for the library in North Madison during construction and is in the process of fleshing out the details.

In the coming weeks, the library will be making decisions on cost-saving initiatives, including the basement, to hit the budget, move on to design development, put the project forward for planning and zoning approval, and stay on track to break ground this fall.