Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
THE FRONT of the Carnegie Library in Ironwood is shown. The sandstone from Wisconsin very closely matches the color of the original brickwork, a requirement for grant approval. The new front doors are also visible.
By IAN MINIELLY
Ironwood - Lynne Wiercinski, the director of the Carnegie Library in Ironwood. and City Manager Scott Erickson discussed completion of the renovation project, which began in 2011.
In 2011, Elaine Erickson, the prior director, successfully had the library added to the National Registry of Historical Places. Being added to the registry opened up grant money otherwise unavailable.
Elaine Erickson began the process for receiving grant approval through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority's Michigan Heritage Restoration Program. The state allocates $600,000 to the restoration program in each budget and requires all approved grants have a dollar match on a 60/40 ratio.
The Carnegie Library, through its partnership with the city and the Friends of the Library, had sufficient funds to qualify for the grant-matching requirements. In the state's 2015 budget, the dollars were available and the grant request was approved.
The renovations require the building either maintain the original architecture and look or come as close as possible to matching the original design with the repairs and renovations. This led to a challenge to find sandstone that matched the original building, which took an extended period of time, before being located in Wisconsin.
The window sills, front doors, retaining wall, hand rail, and chimney were all restored and/or repaired, but the big change occurred with the front of the building. The original face of the building had been changed over the decades of the building's existence, so with the new sandstone located that matched the original, the front of the building was restored to its original look, to include a mantle over the door.
According to Wiercinski, patrons of the library are expressing positive reviews of the renovations, saying "the building is more welcoming and its total demeanor has changed under the remodel."
Under the agreement of the grant approval, the library is required to maintain the building in its historically accurate way for 20 years. Wiercinski expects the remodel to last for generations, though.
