$11 million price tag for new Edgartown library

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The Edgartown library design committee estimates a new library at the site of the Old Edgartown School will cost $11 million, of which $4.6 million would have to come from some combination of Edgartown taxpayer funds and charitable donations. That estimate assumes the town will receive $6.4 million in state grants and energy conservation credits.

The $4.6 million cost could be offset if the town sells the Capt. Warren House, purchased for $3.5 million as part of a now-scrapped plan to expand the library at the current North Water Street site. It could be further reduced by fundraising efforts. The Edgartown Library Foundation has assured the design committee they will raise funds for the new plan, according to design committee chairman Carl Watt.

“It looks very good,” Mr. Watt said. “We’re just very pleased. It’s the old Edgartown story. Quite a few people had different points of view. But we’ve come to a point where everybody is solidly behind the project.”

Members of the design committee traveled to Boston yesterday, to put finishing touches on the grant application and deliver it by hand to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, one day before the deadline.

The state is expected to make decisions on grant funding in June.