Stands to be built for little libraries

By CHARITY SMITH

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Bessemer - The Bessemer Recreation Committee is in the process of having stands built for the little libraries that will be placed around the community. The committee discussed options for the stands, which will be built by North Country Welding in Bessemer.

Committee member Trevor Jackovich took one of the libraries to the welding shop on Thursday so they could come up with some ideas for the stands.

"They thought of either creating a base and burying it in the ground and attaching a pipe to the base, or like a pipe concreted into the ground where you can attach the pipe on and take it off, as we plan on storing them in the winter I presume," said Jackovich. He said that the welding company thought those two options would be "cheapest and best."

Cheryl Olsen, committee chair, said that the city housing commission used a PVC pipe and concrete to create a stable stand for their library.

City councilman and committee member Rob Coleman suggested using either a pipe with a flat piece of metal on top that the library could screw into and be removed from seasonally, or a telescoping pipe that would retract into the ground for winter months.

The city has four little libraries to erect in the spring. They will be placing one at Bluff Valley Park, one in Yale Location and one at the Ethnic Commons downtown. Olsen said the fourth one will probably go to either in Bessemer Township or Ironwood Township.

The little libraries will be filled with books that have been donated to the city library. "Melissa (Lupino, city librarian) has lots of books to fill them," said city manager Charly Loper.

The committee approved having North Country Welding create a design for the stands.

The committee also surveyed each other as to what they would like to see the committee achieve this year.

Coleman said he would really like to see a pickleball court at Bluff Valley Park.

"I don't know how much the skate park gets used, but I did look at it last year and it could be converted to pickleball or even half of it really easy with pretty low cost," he said, adding they would just need to resurface the court.

Olsen said she would just like to see the committee maintain what they already have. She suggested generating a garden club to perform maintenance at the parks such as weeding and watering.

Jackovich agreed saying he would like to see some of the equipment at Bluff Valley get a fresh coat of paint. He said that some of the things in the park have been there since he was a kid.

"They're pretty faded a fresh coat of paint could go a long way and it's just minor maintenance," said Jackovich.

Coleman suggested having a workbee where the city could provide supplies such as paint and volunteers could provide the labor in order to get some of the things done at a low cost. "It really wouldn't take that long," he said.

"I love the idea of a workbee and I think we can definitely do that just for the cost of the paint," said Loper.

Jackovich suggested looking into more grants in order to add things to their park such as Bessemer Township did to its park. "It would be nice to see more added. We have such a big space down there," he said.

Coleman said that they should do a walkthrough of the city's parks and recreational areas in the spring to access the needs.

Olsen said they should have bocce ball available in the lot next to Ableman's downtown. Coleman pointed out that they would need to do something with the balls so that they didn't grow legs. Loper suggested having the library check out the equipment.

The committee also approved its meeting dates for 2022. The committee will meet again on March 3 at 5:30 p.m.