Amherst, MA – Finegold Alexander Architects celebrated the groundbreaking for the Jones Public Library in Amherst on June 18. The ceremony included speeches from U.S. Representative Jim McGovern; Austin Sarat, president of the Jones Library board of trustees; Lynn Griesemer, president of the Amherst Town Council; Anika Lopes, founder and director of the Ancestral Bridges Foundation; Amherst residents Emily Wang and Michael Baun; Alex Lefebvre, member of the Jones Library Building Committee; Timothy Cherubini, vice chair of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC); and Sharon Sharry, director of Jones Library.
The Jones Library renovation and expansion is a $46.1 million project for Finegold Alexander, with Fontaine Brothers as the general contractor. Designed by Putnam & Cox in 1928, Jones Library was originally built to look like a residence. The new design features a comprehensive renovation of the existing historic building and a 3-story addition to the rear. The expanded library will be designed to meet contemporary needs and address accessibility issues while introducing upgrades to security, technology and building systems.
Sustainability was a main driver of the project, and once complete, the library’s energy use is expected to decrease by 65%. Achieving this involved examining energy and operational carbon use as well as the embodied carbon of the building’s materials and construction. To this end, detailed energy modeling was conducted and a full life-cycle assessment was completed with Tally software. The project team placed an emphasis on preserving historic components of the library, including the robust stone façade and gambrel roofline.
