#rockportlibrary

Rockport readies its new library for Dec. 17 opening
Wed, 12/16/2020 - 9:15pm

ROCKPORT — On schedule and with subdued but joyful ceremony, the new Rockport Public Library will open its doors in Rockport Village Dec. 17, at 9 a.m. Due to COVID-19, the official dedication of the new library is going to be scheduled later in the new year. Meanwhile, while the library will be open, there are many new rules and restrictions which are intended to maximize safety for both the patrons and staff. Patron Limit Based on the size of the building, only 10 patrons...
Foundation Grants $100,000 to MidCoast nonprofits
Bangor Savings Bank Foundation makes multiple Midcoast gifts: Rockport library, Recovery Coalition, Waldo Woodshed
Mon, 12/14/2020 - 1:30pm

Supporting health and wellness, providing for basic needs, making sure families have enough to eat, and administering mental health are just some of the focal points of 14 Midcoast Maine nonprofits that are receiving a total of $100,000 in grants from the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation through the Damariscotta Bank and Trust Foundation Special Project Fund. The announcement comes after the merger between Bangor Bancorp, MHC, parent company of Bangor Savings Bank, and Maine-based Damariscotta...
New Rockport Public Library to open doors Dec. 17
Tue, 12/01/2020 - 5:30pm

ROCKPORT — Rockport Public Library Director Ben Blackmon circulated a letter to library members Dec. 1, letting them know that the new library in Rockport Village is to welcome patrons by mid-December. “After years in the making, it’s official,” said a new release. “The new Rockport Public Library will open to the public on Thursday, December 17, at 9 a.m. ” “We can’t wait to welcome everyone into the building and show them around their new library,” said Blackmon. “And I want to thank all the...
Rockport Library Construction Report: Almost finished
Mon, 10/26/2020 - 9:30pm

So, we are getting closer and closer with each day that passes. Phi is working on their “punch list” items for the interior of the building and the library staff are physically moving into the building as construction continues on the building. Once phones and internet are restored to the building, the staff can fully move into the new space and start working from their new home. Opening day has not been announced yet, as there is still work to be done on the intersection and entrances that...
Rockport Public Library construction update
Fri, 09/11/2020 - 12:00pm

There has been a lot of great progress on the library over the past two weeks but the biggest really noticeable change is the pouring of the arches that will hold up the deck that will overlook the Village. The forms have been up for a month or so and made it really hard to visualize the what the final product would look like. In fact the bricks for the interior face of the archways have been hidden inside for quite some time. Work continues on the intersection with the burying of conduits that...
Telling time again in Rockport with a new town clock
Thu, 07/23/2020 - 3:15pm

ROCKPORT — If all goes as planned this evening, July 23, Rockport Village will again have a large clock atop a public building. Earlier in the day, contractors unpacked a new tower clock that had been shipped from Ohio, and mounted it into place in the new Rockport Public Library. It was a major milestone for project manager Charlie Frattini, of Phi Builders and Architects, and architects Steve and Justin Smith, of Stephen Smith Architects, who were all at...
Cost estimate, funding to be determined
Landscaping options outlined for new Rockport Public Library
Wed, 03/25/2020 - 6:00pm

ROCKPORT — Select Board member Doug Cole shared plans for the landscaping around the new Rockport Public Library with his fellow board members at their March 23 meeting; Cole serves as the board’s liaison to the Library Building Committee. The plans were drawn by landscape architect Keith Smith, who has envisioned planting, hardscape and lighting options around the 1 Limerock Street facility. At the Monday night meeting Cole asked the board to approve the concept of the landscape design, which...
Approve addendum to agreement with EMS provider
Rockport officials approve contracts for Village intersection, library work
Tue, 03/10/2020 - 11:00pm

The Rockport Select Board convened March 9 and unanimously approved contracts between the town and Phi Builders and Architects to construct the parking area for the new Rockport Public Library, reconfigure the intersection of Central, Union and Limerock streets, and carry out various upgrades to the lower level of the facility. The board also approved an addendum to the town’s contract with North East Mobile Health Services, the town’s ambulance service. Library contracts Town...
For whom to dedicate library room names?
Committee talks shelving, furniture options for new Rockport library
Wed, 01/29/2020 - 1:15pm

The Library Building Committee met Jan. 28 at the Rockport Town Office to discuss plans for book shelving, furnishings and room dedications, all factors in finalizing design of the new Rockport Public Library. The group also heard a presentation by interior designer Nadine Cole, who brought preliminary floorplans, as well as photographs and price estimates for various furniture options. Committee members in attendance were Ann Filley, Richard Anderson, Mark Van Baalen, library director Ben...
Rockport Select Board mulls over fiber optic internet, fireworks ordinance
Tue, 01/28/2020 - 12:15pm

The Rockport Select Board met Jan. 27 and discussed installing a fiber optic cable network throughout the town to provide high speed internet service to Rockport residents for a monthly fee. The board also considered drafting an ordinance to regulate or ban the use of consumer fireworks throughout the town, and heard a report from the Rockport Library Foundation on fundraising efforts for the new Rockport Public Library. Town-wide high speed internet Referred in the meeting’s...
Select Board: Project within budget, on schedule
Rockport’s new library: What will it look like inside?
Tue, 01/14/2020 - 3:45pm

ROCKPORT — As the exterior of the new Rockport Public Library quickly takes shape on Limerock Street, passersby may wonder what the interior of the building will offer when its doors are open to the public. Last week, a series of questions pertaining to shelf space, furnishings, room dedications and the anticipated aesthetic ‘feel’ of the library’s interior were sent by this reporter to the project’s interior designer, committee members and town officials. Floorplans and renderings were also...
Rockport Library project update: Concrete cures; Foundation receives $25,000; focus on landscaping
Thu, 11/07/2019 - 2:45pm

ROCKPORT — As cold weather settles in, contractors at the new Rockport Public Library building site in Rockport Village are hustling to beat winter. Meanwhile, the Rockport Library Foundation, the nonprofit created specifically to raise money to help move the construction process forward, received a $25,000 grant from a local bank, which helps propel the foundation fundraising goal closer to the finish line. The following is the Nov. 6 construction report, as written by Rick Bates, Rockport’s...
Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals upholds building permit for new library
Fri, 10/18/2019 - 5:30am

ROCKPORT — The Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals spent more than 4.5 hours Oct. 17 debating, poring over the Land Use Ordinance, verifying definitions and interpreting intent of those who originally wrote the town’s land use ordinance. Ultimately, they voted unanimously to uphold the town’s issuance of a building permit it granted itself to build a new 10,000 square foot library in Rockport Village. At the same time, the board, consisting of seven volunteer citizens acting in a quasi judicial...
Oct. 17 meeting, 5:30 p.m., to be streamed live
Rockport appeals board to decide on neighbor’s dispute of library permitting process
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:00pm
ROCKPORT — The Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals will take up again the controversial matter of the town’s library construction permit when it convenes Oct. 17, 5:30 p.m., in the Geoffrey C. Parker Meeting Room at the Rockport Opera House. The meeting is a continuation from the Sept. 11 hearing, when the ZBA heard from appellant Stephen Earle, who contested whether the town properly processed the town’s own building application. Read: Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals seeks clarity as it...
project cost as yet undetermined
Rockport approves alternate plan for library’s lower level; to be funded by anonymous donor
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 10:45am

ROCKPORT — At its Oct. 15 meeting, the Rockport Select Board voted unanimously in favor of a proposal submitted to the town to have the lower level of the new Rockport Public Library finished with improved amenities in an alternate design plan. An “Alternate 1” layout was initially submitted when the project went out to bid from contractors, but was not chosen due to its additional cost. According to Town Manager Bill Post, an anonymous donor has since come forward and has offered to pay for...
Plans for parks to be discussed
Rockport to consider library construction gift, appoint citizens to RES committee, decide harbor, opera house fees
Mon, 10/14/2019 - 5:30pm

ROCKPORT — When the Select Board in Rockport convenes Oct. 15 for a regularly scheduled meeting, its members will consider a donation from an anonymous person to finish construction of the new library’s lower level. The board will also talk about fees for harbor (rental of Marine Park green for events and weddings to cost more; dock tie-offs status quo ) and opera house (going up); possibly create a comprehensive plan committee; hear a report from the Parks and Beautification Committee; appoint...
‘It is a big red sore thumb. Can we at least talk about it?’
Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals seeks clarity as it considers library permit
Thu, 09/19/2019 - 7:45pm

ROCKPORT — Citizens who filled the downstairs meeting room Sept. 11 at the Rockport Opera House, and the 236 others who tuned in via the internet, got a four-hour civics lesson, courtesy of three well-versed municipal attorneys, as the town’s quasi-judicial Zoning Board of Appeals held its preliminary hearing of a library construction permit dispute. Of concern to the appellant is whether the town should have directed its Planning Board to review the new library building plans, instead of...
Quasi-judicial appeal hearing begins Sept. 11
Rockport mounts defense of its library construction permit as hearing nears
Sun, 09/08/2019 - 9:00pm

ROCKPORT — In defense of its own permitting actions, the Town of Rockport, including its planner and code enforcement officer, are maintaining that the town operated in accordance with its ordinances when issuing itself a permit to build a new library in Rockport Village. In a Sept. 4 letter from Bernstein Schur Attorney Philip Saucier, the town is urging its Zoning Board of Appeals to uphold the permit’s issuance. In the letter, he disputes claims made in an appeal by neighbor Stephen Earle,...
Zoning Board of Appeals to hold hearing Sept. 11
Rockport gears up for library construction permit appeal
Thu, 08/29/2019 - 9:30am

ROCKPORT — A neighbor’s appeal of a building permit granted to the town to construct a new library in Rockport Village will be heard Sept. 11 by the Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals. Because the appeal is of a municipality allowing its own entity to construct a new building, there will be two sets of attorneys on deck. William Kelly, of the Belfast firm Kelly and Collins, LLC, is advising the ZBA on its proceedings while the attorney representing the town, Planner Bill Najpauer and Rockport...
Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals to review application tentatively in August
Neighbor appeals building permit for new Rockport Public Library
Thu, 06/20/2019 - 10:45am

ROCKPORT — An abutting neighbor to the new municipal library construction site filed an appeal of the building permit June 11, saying the project fails to “demonstrate compliance with the Town of Rockport’s ordinance.” Stephen Earle, who recently purchased the house next door to the 1 Limerock Street library site, said the application for the new library, which is currently under construction in Rockport Village and which was filed by the town of Rockport, was not subject to a meaningful review...
Chairman Ken McKinley honored for his years of service
Rockport approves contract with Beth Van Keuren for library project; addresses EMS contract
Tue, 06/11/2019 - 11:30am

ROCKPORT — On June 10, members of the Rockport Select Board voted unanimously that town manager Rick Bates sign a contract engaging Mary Beth Van Keuren as owner’s representative to oversee the construction of the new Rockport Public Library. Also at the meeting the board discussed renewing the town’s emergency medical contract with North East Mobile Health Services; the town’s current EMS contract with NEMHS is set to expire on June 30. New owner’s rep Mary Beth Van Keuren is...
Rockport library update
Blasting begins in Rockport May 29, first one at 9:55 a.m.
Wed, 05/29/2019 - 9:00am

ROCKPORT — Dynamite blasting at the Rockport library construction site in Rockport Village begins this morning, May 29, with the first blast scheduled for 9:55 a.m. ROCKPORT — Members of the Rockport Select Board voted unanimously May 13 to close Limerock Street to allow for the first phase of construction at the site of the new Rockport Public Library, 1 Limerock. The closure is expected to take effect immediately, as excavating equipment will be placed at the location. The board also...
Will compose contract, letter of intent
UPDATE: Rockport commits to engaging Phi Builders as general contractor for new library
Thu, 05/02/2019 - 12:45pm

ROCKPORT — The Rockport Select Board unanimously approved motions made May 1 at meeting with Phi Builders and Architects to cement the town’s intention to sign a contract with that Rockport-based company to build the new municipal library in the same spot where the old library once existed. The motions, all approved, included: 1) acceptance of the resignation of Phi Builders and Architects as the town’s owner’s representative, effective 8 p.m., May 1; 2) that Rockport enters...
Consider Phi Builders as contractors for project
Select Board rejects construction bids for new Rockport Library building
Mon, 04/29/2019 - 10:00pm

ROCKPORT — Members of the Rockport Select Board voted unanimously April 29 to reject the two remaining bids from contractors who offered estimates to construct a new Rockport Public Library at 1 Limerock Street. Shortly after this decision was made, the board entertained an offer from the project’s owner’s representative, Phi Builders, to potentially change their position to act as the project contractor, erecting the structure at a cost below budget. The bids two bids rejected were from Blane...
Task now is to reduce project component prices
Rockport opens three library construction bids, all over the target $3 million mark
Thu, 04/18/2019 - 4:45pm

ROCKPORT — The bids are in from three construction companies hoping to build the new $3 million-plus public library in Rockport Village. All the bids came in over the $3 million mark, but the owner’s agent, Charlie Frattini of Phi Builders and Architects, said the task now will be to talk with the two lowest bidders and explore cost reductions. Project architect Stephen Smith said he anticipated cutting 10 percent off the bids, which ranged in total cost estimates from $3.7 million to $4...
Accepts first donation from nonprofit group
Select Board approves agreement with Rockport Library Foundation
Wed, 04/17/2019 - 11:30am

The Rockport Select Board convened April 16 and voted unanimously to approve a “memorandum of understanding” outlining the manner in which funds would be disbursed from the Rockport Library Foundation to the town for costs related to the construction of the new Rockport Public Library. The document had previously been sent to the town’s legal counsel and revised by both parties prior to the meeting. The Rockport Library Foundation (RLF) was formed last year by a group of volunteers seeking to...
Seven perpendicular parking spaces along Limerock Street
Select Board decides Rockport library parking layout
Tue, 04/09/2019 - 8:45am

ROCKPORT — In a vote of four to one, members of the Rockport Select Board approved a plan to create seven perpendicular parking spaces with sidewalk along Limerock Street to provide parking for the new Rockport Public Library. The April 8 meeting also saw the board vote to place 29 warrant articles on the warrant for the June Town Meeting, including a food sovereignty ordinance and a $4.5 million project to extend sewer lines along Route 1. The seven parking spaces and sidewalk will be placed...
Rockport Town Manager’s Report: Library construction bids to be opened April 18
Mon, 04/08/2019 - 9:30am
ROCKPORT — Preceding every regularly-scheduled Rockport Select Board meeting, usually held twice a month, the town manager prepares a report updating the board and town about various municipal initiatives. Town Manager Rick Bates prepared the following April 8 report: Manager’s Report – April 8, 2019 Ambulance Review Committee The ambulance review committee was to meet Thursday, April 4 to review performance and make a recommendation and the changes in the contract. Given that...
Meeting tonight
Library parking, ordinance amendments, new sewer line spending on Rockport Select Board agenda
Mon, 04/08/2019 - 8:45am
ROCKPORT — Rockport’s Select Board is in for a long evening of municipal business April 8, beginning with a workshop to finalize the budget, and then convening a full meeting to continue discussions about the proposed parking for the yet-to-be constructed library in Rockport Village. While that is a touchy topic unto itself in the community and lends the possibility of much discussion Monday evening, the Select Board has a multitude of potential ordinance amendments, new ordinances, proposed...
Emotions high at packed Select Board meeting
No consensus, decision yet on Rockport library parking
Tue, 03/26/2019 - 11:45am

ROCKPORT — Members of the Rockport Select Board decided March 25 to move a decision on parking plans for the proposed Rockport Public Library to their next meeting on April 8. The decision followed a two-hour discussion by members of the public and project engineers of various parking options, many of which have been drafted more than a year ago; one was conceptualized in 2016 as part of a library design that failed at the polls that year. The options involve placing perpendicular, diagonal or...
Meeting tonight
Rockport Select Board narrows in on various library parking plans
Mon, 03/25/2019 - 8:45am

ROCKPORT — The Select Board in Rockport will convene at 7 p.m., this evening, March 25, for a meeting that will be drawing many interested citizens and committees to the Geoffrey C. Parker Meeting Room at the Rockport Opera House. It will be followed by an executive session to discuss a personnel matter. The meeting will be streamed live at https://livestream.com/Rockportmaine On March 22, the Select Board issued a joint press release about the meeting, which says: The Rockport Select Board...
‘There seems to be some controversy about the project. That concerns the Foundation and donors’
Rockport Library Foundation tells Select Board it wants project stability, detailed invoices
Thu, 03/21/2019 - 3:00pm

ROCKPORT — A notice from the Rockport Library Foundation, the nonprofit engaged in raising funds to help build a new municipal library, sent the Rockport’s Select Board scrambling Tuesday afternoon, enough that it scheduled an emergency meeting just several hours later to: Discuss Rockport Public Library Project Cash Flow Situation; and Discuss Rockport Library Foundation’s relationship to the town. Public notice of the 5 p.m. meeting was circulated just before 4 p.m., and the meeting was not...
Letter to the editor: Liz Dailey
I just want a new library with adequate parking
Thu, 03/21/2019 - 8:30am
Plans for building our new Rockport library are well underway. Unfortunately, there seems to be some push back on the parking. Currently, a group of individuals from the village, along with Select Board member Debra Hall, believe that there was no transparency for the parking plan, and that we didn’t vote on it. Ms. Hall and others would like to review additional parking plans. A PenBay Pilot letter to the editor entitled, “We Voted for a new library, not a destroyed park, shares some of their...
Rockport Select Board convenes emergency meeting to talk about library project cash flow
Tue, 03/19/2019 - 4:00pm
ROCKPORT — At 5 p.m. this evening, March 19, the Rockport Select Board is holding an emergency meeting to address two issues: the cash flow for the library building project and the Rockport Library Foundation’s relationship to the town. The meeting will not be streamed live. Notice of the meeting circulated just before 4 p.m. March 19. - EMERGENCY MEETING - Rockport Select BoardTuesday, March 19, 2019 – 5:00 p.m. - GCPR AGENDA Call Meeting to Order Please either turn off your cell phones and...
Rockport to hold special meeting March 14, address timing of library bid circulation
Tue, 03/12/2019 - 5:00pm

ROCKPORT — The Rockport Select Board will be holding a special meeting on Thursday evening March 14, at 7 p.m., in the Geoffrey C. Parker Meeting Room at the Rockport Opera House. T he meeting will be live streamed. The purpose of the meeting is to consider the timing of sending the Rockport Public Library project out to bid given the desire by some community members to develop an alternate parking plan for the project. Public comment will be accepted at the meeting...
Requests drawing from architect to create parking lot on park’s north side
Rockport Select Board member advocates for third library parking plan: Nine-space lot built in Memorial Park
Mon, 03/11/2019 - 3:00pm

ROCKPORT — Leadership in Rockport was awash in emails this past weekend as one Select Board member urged her colleagues late Friday afternoon to take time at the March 11 regularly scheduled board meeting to consider yet another parking plan for the new library site. This one calls for a parking lot to be constructed in Memorial Park, and making Limerock Street a dead-end at the library entrance. Select Board member Debra Hall wrote to her colleagues on the board March 9, requesting the board...
Letter to the editor: Douglas Cole
What’s a Rockport Select Board member to do?
Wed, 03/06/2019 - 11:00pm
In November 2018, Rockport citizens voted to allow the building of the new public library on the previous site of the old library at 1 Limerock Street. One of the reasons that this article passed was that some of the people who had previously supported the RES site now felt that they could support the Limerock Street location with the caveat that ample, adequate and safe parking would be provided as depicted in the conceptual drawings. Fast forward four months to the eve of the groundbreaking...
Space out spending payments, delay project pieces, reconfigure site plan?
Facing budgetary pain, Rockport deliberates over parking for new library
Sun, 03/03/2019 - 8:45pm

ROCKPORT — A piece of the new library project in Rockport is at the root of current fiscal debate amongst the town’s select board, budget committee and some citizens, as a municipal budget for 2019-2020 takes shape. The work is especially arduous this year as the town contends with cutting $719,000 from a proposed budget while investing in the new library infrastructure, and ensuring the townwide infrastructure if roads does not fall into disrepair. (The Select Board is scheduled to convene...
Rockport to hear updates about library construction and fundraising efforts
Thu, 12/27/2018 - 2:00pm
ROCKPORT — On Jan. 8, the Rockport Select Board will convene at 5:30 p.m. in the Geoffrey C. Parker Community Meeting Room, Rockport Opera House, to hear two reports concerning the $3.5 million new library project: 1) construction update, and 2) Library Foundation update. On Nov. 6, Rockport voters approved a $1.5 million bond to help fund the construction of a new, $3.5 million library building at the town’s Limerock Street site. A fundraising group, organized as the Rockport Library...
Library demolition begins in Rockport
Sun, 12/02/2018 - 9:00pm

ROCKPORT — Members of the Public Works Department began demolition work on the grounds of the former Rockport Public Library building at 1 Limerock St. on Nov. 30. A backhoe was used to remove stone walls and brick walkways from the site. Public Works Director Mike Young said some of the stones and metal outdoor furniture would be reused by the town. A Nov. 26 press release from the Town Office said that demolition of the building was expected to commence Dec. 3 and could take up to 10 days,...
Rockport to begin old library demolition Dec. 3
Mon, 11/26/2018 - 3:45pm

Weather permitting, during the week of December 3, the Town of Rockport anticipates beginning the demolition of the old Rockport Library building at 1 Limerock Sreet in anticipation of the construction of the new library in the Spring 2019. That town anticipates that the demolition could take up to 10 days and will involve a large excavator and dump trucks at the site. Much of the work is to be done by employees of the Public Works Department. The Central Street end of Limerock Street will be...