Jeff Davis Library renovations entering final stages
<div class="Content"><p class="indent">JENNINGS — Final renovations and improvements are expected to begin soon on the Jeff Davis Parish Library.</p><p class="indent">The renovations will include expansion of the basement for programs and a public meeting room at the main headquarters at West Plaquemine Street in Jennings. Upgrades will also be made to windows, doors and plumbing and electrical work, according to Library Director Linda LeBert-Corbello.</p><p class="indent">The projects are the last of several major renovations and new construction projects the library system has seen since 2013 to include construction of new libraries in Elton and Lake Arthur and renovations to the McBurney Memorial Library in Welsh. A new reading room and children’s area have also been added to the Jennings location.</p><p class="indent">“We have had every building touched and finished in 15-and-a-half years,” Corbello said.</p><p class="indent">Corbello updated the Jeff Davis Parish Police Jury on the final projects Wednesday following a meeting with architect Albert Mollier of Architects Beazley Moliere in Lafayette.</p><p class="indent">Martin Construction Company of Lake Charles submitted a $90,617 bid for the project which includes plans to repair the windows, replace rotten woods and waterproof the building.</p><p class="indent">The bid is within the $100,000 the library had budgeted for the project, Corbello said.</p><p class="indent">The second project calls for the renovation and expansion of the basement to include a public meeting area to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The project will include a private entrance separate from the library for after hour meetings.</p><p class="indent">“This is turning out bigger and is going to be more beautiful than you can imagine,” Corbello said.</p><p class="indent">Removal of an old boiler will add more room to the basement for programs and a public meeting room with a chair lift to the basement. The meeting room will accommodate more than a dozen people, she said.</p><p class="indent">“Once they remove the boiler and the asbestos we are going to have 2,100-square feet in the basement….,” she said. “And that has allowed them to design an incredible way to have space for programs and built-ins for the children.”</p><p class="indent">The board is working with the architect and its financial director to revise the project after the bid came in $20,000 over budget.</p><p class="indent">The library has $75,000 budgeted for the project, with a low bid of $95,375 from the Delahoussay Company of Scott.</p><p class="indent">Corbello said the library may have $10,000 left over from the window project and $31,000 in state sharing which it could put forth on the basement project.</p><p class="indent">“We are going to play with the figures even though it came in more,” she said. “We want to be able to tweak those figures so that we can make sure our revisions aren’t going to be major at all.”</p><p class="indent">New cabinetry and millwork is also expected to be included in the project.</p></div><div class="Lead"> </div>
<strong>‘This is turning out bigger and is going to be more beautiful than you can imagine.’</strong>
Linda LeBert-Corbello
Jeff Davis Parish Library director