Gladwyne Library Accessibility Project Put on Hold

Lower Merion's Board of Commissioners voted on Wednesday to move the Gladwyne Library's accessibility project “to the end of the line” in the schedule of the township-wide library renovations, reports Main Line Media News.

At a community meeting in February, a majority of the people who spoke at the meeting, which included new sketches of the proposed addition that would house an elevator, said they wanted alternatives to making the library accessible.

The library’s board was in negotiations with Lower Merion Township over an agreement that the township would pay for renovations to the privately-owned building, which was a point of contention as well at the meeting.

The proposed project includes a new handicap-accessible bathroom, a reconfigured staff workroom and a new Young Adult section in addition to an elevator, which would give Americans with Disabilities Act access to all three floors.

The proposal is part of Lower Merion Library System’s plan to renovate each of its six libraries. It was recommended in a 2004 space planning study of the library system.

According to Main Line Media News, Board of Commissioners' President Liz Rogan made a motion to put design work on hold, and it passed by a 7-4 margin. Commissioners Daniel Bernheim, George Manos, Rick Churchill and Steven Lindner opposed the motion.