Due to required roof repairs which exceed the original project scope, Branford has authorized bonding an additional $500,000 for the $5.245 million renovation project underway at the James Blackstone Memorial Library.

The additional bonding was ratified by a vote of 24-4 during a virtual meeting of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) on April 22. Rep. Marc Riccio (R, District 6) said he was "uncomfortable" with the ask, would not vote in favor of it, and wanted to know why the money being requested now wasn't built into the project when it was brought to the RTM for approval two years ago. 

Noting the Town was now being asked to commit another half a million dollars to the project, Riccio asked, "...How could you not check the roof?" as part of the original scope of the project.

Library Director Karen Jensen said part of the answer is in how the project's work was phased; with the area of concern, which encompasses the rear roof and damage to the ceiling of the auditorium, scheduled to be looked at the end of the project.

"We didn't know the extent of the damage until we got to that point," said Jensen.

A representative of the project's construction company, Downes Construction (New Britain), said the money needed to complete the roof repair nearly doubles the contingency money included in the project's original bonding. He noted that the original project scope had taken into account previous repairs to the roof, which had made the problem seem isolated to the gutter system, which was allotted $100,000 to be replaced as part of the $5.2 million project. Further, the intricate nature of the dome roof assembly also made for some unknowns that could not be determined at the point of developing construction documents for the original scope of the project.

Work to construct the new library addition at the rear of the building broke ground in December 2018 and was completed in 2019; while interior renovation work to the library is nearing completion. The project designer is Silver/Petrucelli + Associates (Hamden). 

Of the now $5,745,000 town-bonded project, $1 million of the cost will be defrayed by a Connecticut State Library grant and more than $800,000 of the cost has been secured by the Campaign for the Blackstone, a project of the Blackstone Board of Trustees.