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New public library has ‘wow factor’

Aaron Hall(cq) asks The Cat in the Hat for a hug during the dedication celebration for the new West Chester Library on Sunday, Nov. 15. The public got a preview of the new facility, which opens on Monday, Nov. 16, following a ribbon cutting on Sunday.

Photo by David A. Moodie, contributing photographer Aaron Hall(cq) asks The Cat in the Hat for a hug during the dedication celebration for the new West Chester Library on Sunday, Nov. 15. The public got a preview of the new facility, which opens on Monday, Nov. 16, following a ribbon cutting on Sunday.

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Photos: New library dedicated

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By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer Updated 9:14 AM Monday, November 16, 2009

WEST CHESTER TWP. — Before cutting the red ribbon opening the new West Chester Library on Sunday, Nov. 15, its manager was handed the keys to the Centre Pointe Drive building.

“Somewhere I think a prison guard is missing his keys,” said Manager Steve Mayhugh jokingly of the giant brass skeleton keys on a brass ring.

The new location of the branch of the Middletown Public Library was dedicated Sunday afternoon with more than 150 people waiting for the doors to open. The library is set officially to open at 10 a.m. today, Nov. 16.

The $13.3 million, 48,000-square-foot library is “not just a library,” said West Chester Twp. Trustee President Catherine Stoker.

“This becomes a signature and a magnet for a lot of other needs and benefits to the community,” Stoker said.

West Chester Twp. Trustee George Lang said the library has a “wow factor.”

“To me, more important than the presence of the facility has in West Chester, is going to be the impact this facility will have on the world, with the next generation and the generation after that,” Lang said.

Tax increment financing dollars paid for the library that has been publicized as “a new gift to the community.”

The library was designed by Cincinnati-based architect Glaserworks. Art Hupp, a company principal, said the facility is already award-winning.

“Last Thursday (Nov. 12), the Tri-State Masonry Institute gave the library its project of the year award, the highest award they give every year,” Hupp said. “On top of that, it was awarded the People’s Choice award.”

Andy and Lisa Petty of Liberty Twp. were ready for the library to open.

“It’s a lot more roomy than the old one,” Andy Petty said about the old 16,000-square-foot building on Cox Road.

Lisa Petty said the library can have many purposes.

“The building facilitates to be almost like a community center/meeting place as compared to just a library because it has the space to do that,” she said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or mpitman@coxohio.com.

»‘Check out’ a photo gallery from the opening online at Journal-News.com/photos

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It is still a noisy library. I was told it would be more quiet than the Cox Rd., but it is not. People do not use their "quiet" voices. Do they not know there is a "Quiet Zone" and it happens to be in a LIBRARY....

mj
6:41 PM, 11/17/2009

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The West Chester library is a branch of the Middletown library, just like the one it is replacing on Cox Road

Andy
3:04 PM, 11/16/2009

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We could of had a rec center instead if it wasn't for that dam Bruyce Jones!

SRC
1:26 PM, 11/16/2009

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The library cost is in excess of $15 million. It amazes me that the Pulse has stated 13.3 million and the Enquirer has stated 9.8 million, both on numerous occasions. If it was over stated, Boyko would come back with a correction, but not in this case. Call her and ask the total cost of the library.

wc voter
1:11 AM, 11/16/2009

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Do you really think Michael Pitstain gives a crap if he spelled the city name right? If the J-N really cared about the quality of the product they put out they would dock the writers for all typos, poor grammar & incorrect information. Of course then none of them would actually make any money.

It seems to me the story is about the West Chester library anyway - I'm sure the powers that be there are horrified to even have the impression they are somehow associated with ANYTHING in Middletown.

HHS grad
9:44 PM, 11/15/2009

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