Palmer Library gets a temporary home

On Tuesday, the city of Palmer signed an agreement for a temporary library following the collapse of the Palmer Library on February 15.

“It’s going to be on Arctic Avenue at the old Great Northern Engineering building,” said Palmer City Manager John Moosey, who hopes the library will be able to salvage books and other materials from the library. “It’s probably going to take about a month for us to get everything in order to provide service from that location.”

Currently, the library is shuttered as there is too much damage to allow patrons to safely use the building. Moosey says the lease for the temporary library is good for a year as the city moves forward with plans to rebuild the library, whatever that may look like.

Moosey also addressed the Palmer City Council during a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday evening, telling council members that as they are waiting for word from the insurance company as far as the extent of the damage, and what they will be able to recoup financially in order to move forward, they have also reached out to state leadership for assistance.

“We have been in touch and have submitted a request to Senator Murkowski, as well as House (Finance Committee) co-chair DeLena Johnson for funding, and have applied for assistance from the USDA, and Beth Skow is also looking for other funding,” Moosey reported.

Earlier in the month, the City of Palmer received and released the Structural Observation Report from PND Engineers, Inc. According to the report, the collapse occurred mainly over the children’s section of the library. However, surrounding areas were also impacted by the roof collapse. The structural observation of the building was to document the extents of the visible damage, determine the cause of the collapse, if possible, and assess if the building is safe to enter to allow contractors to begin selective demolition, clean up and collection of building contents.

The report indicated that not all areas of the interior library were able to be examined, but did make recommendations that the remaining snow drifts be removed before commencing of other work inside, including the removal of supports and walls as needed. It also concluded that the extent of the structural roof damage exceeds 30 percent of the total roof area, therefore, classifying the roof damage as “substantial structural damage.”

Moosey is hopeful moving forward.

“We are very hopeful that we can turn this big lemon into lemonade, and really serve our next generation.”

For more information on the status of the Palmer Library, or for those wanting to donate, please visit www.palmerak.org/library