Update on Expansion Construction September 2023

It wouldn't be the Jeudevine Expansion if the Fates didn’t push us to be stronger, would it?

The builders hit water in the ground almost as soon as they began excavating the site in May. We have since learned that water flows through this area of town on the way downhill to the river, possibly from a spring located across from Hazen Union. Historical records show the Memorial Building construction hit soil described as "quicksand," and the parking lot for the American Legion also had to be "dewatered" during construction. 

In the vein of quicksand, the water in the ground creates unstable soil conditions and we had to pause construction almost immediately to install pumps to drain the water. Then, the flood on July 10 did nothing to improve things as great amounts of water flowed through the construction siteand made clear that extra drainage and stabilization would be required. Because the library is a commercial building, it was slated to have a commercial elevator installed; however, a commercial elevator requires deep excavation that was looking to be highly risky for the existing historic library.

After several months of consulting experts to get a sense of costs and choices, the team finally made the difficult decision to raise the building addition by two feet and apply for a variance to install a lighter-duty type of elevator that requires less deep excavation. To alleviate impediments to accessibility caused by raising the building, the architects and engineers performed a fairly extensive redesign that preserved the goals of the 2018 community design meetings.

The changes to the plans will bring additional costs, and we're still assessing the extent of those increases. All that said, we are pleased to give the update that we now have the redesigned plans and a tentative re-mobilization date of September 29.