Ashland Library Trustees plan open houses at former school building

ASHLAND — The Ashland Town Library will hold two open houses at the old Ashland School which the Library Trustees propose to purchase, renovate and equip as the new home of the library. A warrant article for an $800,000 appropriation for this purpose will be voted on at the March 8 local election.

The open houses will be held at the former school, at 41 School Street, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 5. The open houses will give citizens the opportunity to tour the building and to see how it will be used by the Town Library. The Friends of the Ashland Town Library will serve free refreshments.

Ashland voters who are not familiar with the cramped conditions in the Ashland Town Library are invited to visit the Scribner Memorial Building (41 Main Street) during regular library hours, 1 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The old school was built in 1877-78 as a graded school for the children of Ashland village. A fine example of Second Empire style

architecture, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was used for classes by the local school district

until 1990, when Ashland joined the regional high school. The building is currently owned by the Tri County Community Action Program. TCCAP spent over one and a quarter million dollars to restore and renovate the building and to bring it up to modern building codes, including fire, safety and handicapped codes.