Renovations underway at Palmetto’s 1914 historical Carnegie Library

It’s a project years in the making but work that began in July to repair and preserve the original windows of Palmetto’s historical 1914 Carnegie Library is moving along smoothly.

In October 2015, the city received a $105,000 historical preservaton grant from the state, putting up matching funds along with the Palmetto Historical Society, which oversees the city’s Historical Park at 515 10th Ave. W. The windows were shuttered last year due to continuous water seepage causing severe rotting around many of the window sills. The damage not only put the windows at risk, the constant moisture began threatening many of the artifacts within the library.

For the first time in many months, sunshine is pouring into the historical structure and that has Curator Tori Edwards smiling. But there is more work to do.

“There was a lot more damage than we initially thought,” Edwards said. “And there are spots where the water began seeping into the walls.”

The renovations eventually will expand to some of the historical out buildings. That work will include porch repairs and a wheelchair access ramp on the old schoolhouse building. Edwards said the grant dollars will cover the extra work.

The library will remain closed through the annual Halloween social, though the event will still be held on the grounds. She is hopeful that work will be completed by the annual Christmas event in early December.

“We are pushing really hard to make that happen,” she said.

The sills received some attention in 1993, but Edwards said the work done then was “band-aid fixes,” and nothing to the extent of what is going on now. Workers from Tampa-based Specialized Property Services Inc., were reinstalling the last of the historical windows on Thursday.

In the course of the work, a block of wood was found with several names on it and at some point in time, someone stuffed a piece of unknown fabric into the sills, likely in an attempt to stop leaks many years ago. Edwards said the Park plans to put up an exhibit of the various things found during the renovations with background of the project. But for now, there is much to celebrate.

“This is an important piece of our town’s history and a great tool to be able to teach the kids and everybody about our past,” Edwards said. “So we are really excited that finally it won’t be raining inside anymore. We’re getting the both worlds here. They are functioning like they are brand new, but we get to keep the old style.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2017 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Renovations underway at Palmetto’s 1914 historical Carnegie Library."