POCOMOKE – Planning continues for the replacement of the Pocomoke branch of the Worcester County Library.
Following the news last month that a new library would not be built at the former armory property, officials say that planning is now underway for a new library on Market Street, where the existing facility is.
“Staying on this site just makes it a whole lot easier,” said Weston Young, Worcester County’s chief administrative officer.
In April, Worcester County Library Director Jennifer Ranck said plans for a new library on the armory site in partnership with Pocomoke City were no longer being pursued. She addressed the issue at a town hall meeting hosted May 11 by Worcester County Commissioner Caryn Abbott in Pocomoke.
“We’re now going to plan what’s possible on this site,” she said.
Ranck told the crowd in attendance that she was working with the Maryland State Library Agency to see if the county could keep the $2.2 million grant that had already been received toward library construction. She’s also applying for more capital funds from the state.
She said that while the site has changed, a new library at the Market Street location would be similar to what was planned for the armory site.
“The concept would be very similar to that,” she said. “We’ll have a larger meeting space, an expanded children’s area, a lovely gallery when you walk in, a separate space for teenagers.”
The existing library, which is on about a one-acre site, would not be able to stay open during construction of the new facility.
“The construction company would need some space to stage their materials…,” she said. “We’re probably going to need to look at an alternate site, possibly a trailer, something to keep books available, computers available.”
When asked exactly why the armory plan had been abandoned, Ranck said the library was anxious to keep the project moving forward.
“It takes another player out of the equation for us,” she said. “This way we already had the space.”
She stressed that the Pocomoke community had been waiting a long time for a new library, as the existing one was more than 50 years old.
Young recapped the history of the project. He said that initially, officials were looking at a riverfront site in Pocomoke but environmental issues with the property had led them to abandon that plan. They’d next agreed to work with the municipality to develop a new library on the armory property. Planning slowed, however, when the city wasn’t successful in getting a grant to help with demolition costs. Young noted that even if the building was demolished, there was a chance the site could have environmental issues related to its former uses.
“Even if the town cleaned up the site I think the county would be hesitant to take it over if we weren’t able to immediately build on it,” Young said. “By keeping it on a site we know and already own it’s going to be a smoother process. We’ve lost probably two years since the riverfront site. We could possibly have a new library by now if we’d just stuck with this site.”
