By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Haddonfield Sun
Borough commissioners have hired Todd and Black Inc. to appraise the current library building, Administrator Sharon McCullough said last week.
The contract for the service is $4,200, McCullough said, with money being used from a previous bond ordinance that was issued by commissioners. This is not additional taxpayer money, McCullough stressed, and the service did not have to be put out to bid because it came in well below the bid threshold.
Craig Black of Todd and Black Inc. has been hired by the borough before for appraisal work, McCullough said.
He helped appraise the previous site on Kings Highway — the Oriental rug store — when the borough was considering purchasing the property for a possible new library building.
The appraisal is needed in case the borough decides to pursue the construction of a new library at the Allen Avenue parking lot site, a piece of property being considered as a possible area for a new structure. If that were to happen, McCullough said, the borough would weigh the options of selling the old library building.
“We’re looking to do an appraisal of the existing building to find what it’s worth,” McCullough said. “Do we need another public building? What would we use it for? What would the expenses be? If we don’t need another public building, which we probably do not, can we sell it? We’re looking at an appraisal to find out what the value of that building would be. If we build another building, can we sell this building and what would the profits be?”
Because the building and property is of historic value, the borough will have to figure out if it can be sold and what types of development it can legally support.
Several borough residents have come forward since June and urged commissioners to research the possibility of a new library at the Allen Avenue site. Architects reported that a two-story structure on stilts at the parking lot would preserve some parking spaces and would likely cost about $6.9 million.
A three-story building without stilts would sacrifice a number of parking spots at the site but would only cost about $6.5 million.
At a June public meeting, resident David Hunter urged commissioners to seriously consider the property. He said it’s a beneficial site to support a new library and would only cost about $1.2 million more than making the existing building ADA compliant and adding 7,500 square-feet.
