Roof job to affect patrons of library

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Patrons of the main public library may be inconvenienced by a roof- replacement project.

It will necessitate a brief return to using the old Wick Avenue entrance to the Public Library of Youngs-town and Mahoning County, which requires stair climbing and is not handicapped-accessible.

The $205,950 job, which begins next week and is expected to be completed in three weeks, will be performed by Roth Brothers of Austintown, and it will require temporarily moving some parking areas, the library announced.

For part of the project, the Wick Avenue entrance will be used because the regular north-facing entrance from the parking lot will be closed.

The library will remain open during the replacement, which is being done atop the 1994-vintage rear addition to the 101-year-old library at 305 Wick Ave.

“We wanted to get it done before winter,” said Janet Loew, library communications and public-relations director.

Library personnel first noticed puddling of rain-water on the flat tar roof and small water leaks through that roof in midyear, but there was no damage to the building’s interior or to library materials, Loew said.

The start of the roof- replacement job, which had been scheduled several months ago, was delayed by the bidding process and by a delay in arrival of the new roofing materials, she said.

“It’ll have a slight incline to it” to facilitate rainwater runoff and reduce ponding of water, Loew said of the new rubber roof that will be installed.

As for the mere 17-year life of the addition’s roof, Loew acknowledged, “It is shorter than normal” but beyond that roof’s warranty.