Chapel Hill library construction delayed due to budget

Looking around at the clutter of makeshift shelves, books and 14-year-old piles of dust at the Chapel Hill Public Library, Ron Mills said it is hard to imagine the building will be empty in five days.

The town is in the process of moving its only library from its location at 100 Library Drive to a temporary spot in University Mall.

Mills, commercial services manager for Raleigh-based Excel Moving & Storage, Inc., is in charge of moving the library to the mall.

The move comes after the Town Council approved a $16 million expansion of the current location earlier this year, originally set to be completed by December 2012.

But Town Manager Roger Stancil wrote in an email last week that it will now take longer than expected to begin construction on the project. That’s because the expansion estimate exceeds the project’s $12.5 million construction budget limit, which the Chapel Hill Town Council approved in June.

The town planned to begin construction this month, but will have to wait until they get costs under budget.

The projected completion date could be moved to January 2013, according to Stancil’s email.

Clancy & Theys Construction Company, which the town hired to direct the project, met with sub-contractors in August to hire out jobs like cement laying and electricity installation.

But they were unable to obtain the needed labor within budget, the email stated.

Catherine Lazorko, spokeswoman for the town, wrote in an email that the bids from subcontractors were much higher than original cost estimates.

Clancy & Theys is now working with the town’s design consultants and staff to modify the expansion plan to fit the budget.

Library Director Kathleen Thompson said the town may have to cut back on some planned features of the library to reduce costs.

But changes will not be made to the size of the library, Stancil’s email said.

A representative for Clancy & Theys said he would not comment until he talked to the town.

This is not the first delay to the project.

Movers planned to begin moving the library Sept. 26, but work was delayed four days because of ongoing construction at University Mall.

But Thompson said staff had plenty of work to do during the delay.
“Regular work doesn’t stop while we’re moving,” Thompson said. “We’re juggling a lot of tasks.”

Movers began transporting the library to University Mall on Friday.

During the project, movers will transport about 140,000 pounds of books to University Mall, not including the shelving and furniture.

The University Mall library location is expected to open to the public next week.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.