Sewickley Herald

              NH
The Herald
The Sewickley Valley’s Home-News Weekly
Vol. XXV. No. 12.
SEWICKLEY, PA., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1927
Price 5 Cents.
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(Cut used by courtesy of t'lie Ambridge News-Herald)
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James M. Scott, tlvo Sewickley contractor, lias been awarded the contract for the erection of the Alexander Laugh -lin Memorial Library in Ambridge, it was announced last Friday by L. G. Beall, president of the board of trustees. The library is being given by Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Laughlin of Edgeworth in memory of their son, the late Alexander Laughlin, Jr. The amount of the bid was not announced.
Work will not bo commenced on tho actual construction until the opening up of spring, but the intervening time will bo utilized in assembling tho materials and getting everything in readiness.
_ The marble is to come from the quarries in Italy and tho Indiana limestone to be used will bo cut at tho quarries ready to bo put in place,
It is expected that it will require from six to eight months to complete the structure after it is started which may mean tlmt it will probably be Gliristmas, 1928, by tho time it is ready for dedication, Tho building ■will bo located on tho north side of Eleventh rireet between Maplewood .avenue and Church street; tho plot of ground having a frontage on Eleventh street of 154 feet, on Maplewood avenue of 107 feet end on Church stroct of 144 feet.
The building itself will be approximately 82 feet square, and is to bo of tho Italian Renaissance style of architecture, which is particularly suitable for a publie building of this nature, presenting as it does a quiet and dignified yet interesting combination of columns, circular window heads, arches and carving. The exterior will be of Indiana Limestone, and nil four elevations have been so treated that tlie combined effect is one of perfect harmony, the main feature being the portico and colonnade forming the entrance on Eleventh street.
Tho building will have two doors, and tho entire upper floor will bo occupied by tho circulating department and rending rooms of tho library, with commodious accommodations for staff and maintenance departments. A unique feature of the design on this floor is an inner court or circulating space, with overhead natural and indirect artificial lighting so arranged that there will bo ample, yet subdued', light at all times. This inner court will bo surrounded by a colonnade of Italian black and gold marble, fifteen foot high, especially imported, Tho ceiling will be beautifully enriched with beams and panels finished in a fitting color scheme; and a rubber tile floor, of pattern design and color to
blend with the general decorations, will assure the quiet necessary for a library.
All furniture used on this floor will be walnut, finished for service and beauty. The bookcases will be built of steel, with a walnut finish to harmonize with the furniture. Low sections of book-oases will separate the reading space •into the divisions required to make tho library most efficient, but tho majority of the cases will be placed against tho ■walls. Ample space lias been provided to take care of present needs, namely 18,000 volumes, and provision has also been made for 7,000 additional volumes.
The heating will be provided by low prossuro steam through concealed pipes and radiators. By a novel scheme no radiators will be visible, as they will be concealed by being set in recesses in the wall and covered by the bookcases.
Special monition must be made of tho features of tho entrance from Eleventh street. A flight of granite steps will lend up to the portico which will have triple arches supported on stone columns, and the doors of the library will be ornamental bronze; nil combining to form a dignified and harmonious effect. Entrance to tho lower floor will bo by means of stops at both ends of the portico.
Not only have the donors made pro-
vision for a complete and modern library, as described, but they have also provided facilities for civic and social activities.
The lower floor will contain an assembly room with accommodations for about 300 people. Lighting in this room will be provided by windows on one side and end, as well as by amplo artificial means. Entrance an-! exit doors of largo size Will open into a nine-foot central corridor, which will extend the entire depth of tho building from tho front entrance to tho rear exit. Adjoining the assembly room will be a sufficiently largo kitchen, equipped with an electric range and other modern conveniences, to cater to tho social needs of the community.
Also on this lower floor will bo rest rooms, janitor’s service rooms, boiler room, a storage room for books, and other storage rooms.
Tho floors in tho corridors, assembly room, and toilet rooms will be finished in Torrazzo of different colors, divided into patterns with brass strips. Tho other rooms will have floors of finished cement.
The grounds immediately surrounding tho library, as well ns the two plots on the corners to tho right and left of the entrance, will be laid out in lawns1, flower-beds, shrubbery, trees and hedges.
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