City officials showed further support for a shared facility between Penacook Library and the Boys & Girls Club after planning board members expressed excitement for the new community space.
The project calls for the demolition of three buildings – the former Penacook Community Center and two residential homes used as childcare facilities on Community Drive in Penacook – to construct an 8,900-square-foot, multicolored single-story building that will serve 46 toddlers and preschoolers during the day and 45 children in an after school setting.
“We merged with the Penacook library earlier this year and reached out about the opportunity to see if it was possible for them to relocate and join us,” said Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Chris Emond. The city spent the last eight years looking for a new space for the library that would meet the needs of the Penacook community before Emond reached out.
As part of the merger, the city will get 1,470 square feet of space in the building to house the library, along with areas for meeting spaces and public use, while the remainder would be used by the Boys & Girls Club as a daycare center. Behind the property will be a fenced in playground that connects directly to the daycare.
Included in the proposal, the city will sell the building at 3 Merrimack St., which has been the Penacook Library Branch for the last 24 years, while ensuring historic preservation as part of the sale. Additionally, a small, vacant lot at the intersection of Sanders and Merrimack streets will be sold and used for parking.
The Merrimack Street property was assessed for $330,900 and includes a deed restriction to ensure that the 1899 building is preserved. If renovated by the city, the former site would still have limitations, especially for handicap accessibility, which was a point of emphasis.
The Planning Board reviewed detailed plans for the new center, including an enclosed playground, parking for multiple cars and two vans/buses, accessible pedestrian access throughout the site, landscaping, a dumpster enclosure, and installation of a stormwater management system. Solar panels are also expected to be placed on the flat roof of the building.
Construction is set to begin in the spring of 2023 and the facility will be complete in the late spring or early summer of 2024.
The City Council recently approved spending $1.3 million to purchase land on Community Drive for the center.
“It’s a great opportunity to provide Penacook with a state-of-the-art facility it needs and deserves,” Ward One City Councilor Brent Todd said in an email.