First Posted: 7/18/2013

Pittston Library’s Cosgrove Expansion is expected to begin in mid-August.

“(Construction bids) will be opened on Monday, July 29 and the successful contract will be awarded within a week of the 29th,” said Anne Hogya, library director. “They will start breaking ground within five days of the bid opening. So, we are talking about mid-August that construction will start.”

Construction will begin about the time of the Pittston Tomato Festival, but Hogya says none of the construction will affect the festival. “Contractors will be marking out the back of the building, so it won’t interfere with the parking lot.”

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The $1.5 million project is still in need of donations. “We have tapped into grants, a USDA Redevelopment loan and if we can fundraise a way to pay off the loan it would be better than having a constuction loan out,” said Hogya.

The library board is currently looking at ways to cut the $1.5 million project down to $1.3 million. Even with the cuts, the project will include a large children’s room, a community center equipped with smartboard technology, video conferencing, and a kitchenette.

Once completed, the City of Pittston will build a playground outside the children’s room and an outdoor amphitheater.

During the construction, the main library will not be affected by dust and dirt. “The project will be built from the exterior with an entry door connecting the old building with the new being the last to be done,” added Hogya.

As for future expansion, according to Hogya, the new expansion will be built to accommodate adding a second floor.

Completion date is tentatively set for April 2014.

In other Pittston Library news, Atlas Realty on state Route 315 in Plains Township recently donated $1,000 to the Pittston Library in memory of the late Mary Catherine Petroziello, former Pittston Area teacher and Director of Religious Education at St. John the Evangelist in Pittston.

Petroziello, of Duryea, died in January after being struck by a car while crossing Main Street in Inkerman.

Accepting the check was Barbara Quinn, president of the Pittston Memorial Library Board of Directors.

“The donation from Atlas Realty was very generous and we appreciate it very much,” Quinn said. The money will be placed in the Annual Campaign aiding daily operations at the library.

According to Charles Adonizio, broker for Atlas, “For the first six-months of this year, the agents donated a portion of their commission.”

The agents raised$500 with Atlas Realty matching raised funds.

In the past, Atlas has donated to the West Pittston pool project, the West Pittston Library, Greater Pittston Meals on Wheels and the Pittston Area star relocation project where the star formerly located on Stauffer Heights was moved to the grounds of Pittston Area High School.

Also, Hogya and the library family also wanted to say good-bye to Gemma Williams who has been with the Pittston Memorial Library for nearly the last three-years. Gemma will be the new library director at the Marion Sutherland Kirby Library in Mountaintop.