Library to renovate historic windows

A renovation and restoration project, two years in the making, is planned for the Freeport Memorial Library’s historic east wing beginning in the spring of 2016. The project will include replacing 12 windows as well as restoring the 11 large divided pane windows in the library’s Beaux Arts building, now known as the east wing. “It will look terrific,” Ken Bellafiore, Freeport Library Director, said.

The library issued a Request for Proposals earlier this month looking for contractors to restore and replace windows in the library’s east building. A walk through with prospective bidders will take place on Monday, Sept. 28.
“Not all the windows match,” Bellafiore said. “Now, there are four different kinds of windows on the building. The replacement windows will match the larger windows and be truer to the design of the building.”

Kelly Windows, a proprietor who specializes in putting in replacement windows in historic homes, “helped to spec it out,” Bellafiore said. The designs were done by LAS Architects.

The first phase of the project includes removing 12 windows and replacing them with “high quality, durable aluminum clad windows,” Bellafiore said. The replacement windows include three small windows where the administrative archives are now housed on the second floor of the building, facing east onto Ocean Avenue. The rest of the replacement windows are basement-level windows. “They are in less obvious places, mostly at grade level or below grade level,” Bellafiore said. “You can’t really see them and they will not change the look of the building.”

The second phase of the project includes renovating the 11 large divided pane windows on the main floor of the east wing. Storm windows will be removed and the frames will be painted with a “high grade marine-based paint for protection,” Bellafiore said.

Repairs will also be made to the Gold Star window at the front of the building. “We will replace the wood frame with an aluminum clad one and put a Plexiglas protector over the window,” Bellafiore said.

The library has secured $177,000 in New York State construction grant funding for the project with some additional funding coming from the library’s 2015-2016 capital funds.

Proposals are due by Wednesday, Oct. 11. The library board of directors will make the final decision. The project could be awarded to two different contracts, including one that specializes in historic restoration “The library board has jurisdiction over the building and will make the final decision,” Bellafiore said. “There is no need to go before the site plan review board.”