For the last eight months, officials of the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library’s new building committee have been working feverishly to raise the $650,000 needed to cover the costs of the new structure and provide the state-of-the-art equipment that will be housed inside.
Yesterday, Chuck Banas, the director of public relations for the building committee, told The Daily Herald the group is in the process of finalizing a deal that would partner four local banking establishments to provide the low-interest loan.
“We approached five local banks to see if they would go together in offering us this loan,” said Banas. “Four of them were in agreement with the idea, but one said it would only become involved if the full mortgage was through them.”
According to Banas, the committee has raised more than $420,000 of the needed funding, including a recent deposit of $7,200 from the “Salute to the Jukebox Legends” concert held in July.
“We were real happy with the turnout,” said Banas, noting that more than 720 people attended the show. “We think a concert of this magnitude will be an annual event.”
This year, organizers said they held two concerts just to get the fundraiser off to a good start.
“It’s an awful lot of work and we think twice a year is overkill,” said Banas.
Banas said the mortgage would be for around $250,000 and would be enough to cover the costs to purchase the building and also install all the interior workings of the structure.
“Right now, the plaster walls are just about up and the building committee recently presented detailed information on the interior furnishings,” he said. “Soon, we’ll have a special meeting to finalize the plans and place the order. After that, it should take between six and eight weeks to get all that stuff in.”
Although Banas couldn’t nail down a specific move in date, he said he hopes everything will be ready by the second or third week of October.
“We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to move all that stuff from the library’s current location to the new building,” said Banas. “We’ve had a lot of good suggestions, but we haven’t decided exactly how we’re going to do it yet.”
As for the fundraising, committee members continue to make pushes in the community. Banas said the next fund generator will occur during Tyrone’s Farm City Day, which is scheduled for Sept. 13 at Reservoir Park. There, Banas said the committee will set up a table and raffle off chances to win “themed bags,” which, simply put, are bags stuffed with related items.
Those who would like to make donations to the new building fund in a tax-free manner are encouraged to contact any library board member or phone the library at 684-1133.
