ENERGY GRANT: Library Interior To Get Upgrades

LOCAL BUILDING WILL RECEIVE NEW COOLING, HEATING SYSTEM, LIGHTING

By John Gore

Posted: November 12, 2009 at 4:35 a.m.

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ROGERS — The heating and air conditioning system at the Rogers Public Library has been on life support for as long as officials can remember, but that’s about to change.

A $299,700 federal energy grant, city money and additional money from grants and donations will be used to replace the boiler and chiller at the library as well as retrofit lights.

“There has been trouble with the heating and air conditioning system since the library opened in 1993,” said Judy Casey, library director.

The cost of maintaining the aging system reached the point it was not worth trying to continue to repair, Casey said.

“We’ve been hanging on by a thread the last few months with only one compressor working. We kept our fingers crossed that it wouldn’t go out,” she said.

Replacing the heating and air conditioning system and lights won’t be cheap. The City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday hiring Clear Energy Contracting LLC of Fayetteville to upgrade the system. The ordinance set the maximum price for the repairs at $497,200.

The energy grant, while providing a good chunk of the money needed for repairs, won’t cover the entire cost. The city is expected to pull money from the general fund to help finance the repairs.

Casey said there may be cuts necessary in technology expansion and some library programs to finance the repairs.

The lights in some sections of the library will be replaced with energy efficient lighting, said David Hook, city facilities development manager.

Many of the existing incandescent and high intensity discharge lights in the library will likely be replaced by fluorescent fixtures that provide better illumination for reading and cost less to operate, Hook said.

The lighting system hasn’t been designed, Hook said. Officials hope to use the same type of lighting as is in the children’s library.

Lighting in the older section of the library casts shadows and makes reading difficult, Casey said.

The city will gain some financial rewards from the repairs.

“We feel we can save $24,000 a year on utilities with the repairs being made to the heating and air conditioning units and the lighting,” Hook said.

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