Plans are in the works for a library wing addition and Upper Park dedication in Lehighton.

Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky informed borough council on Monday that there will eventually be a grand opening for the Lehighton Area Memorial Library’s new wing addition.

Abelovsky said they are attempting to coordinate the library’s new wing addition grand opening with the Upper Park dedication, though no date has yet to be set.

Library wing addition

The library completed its 1,400-square-foot building addition in the fall of 2020.

It includes a youth services area, a community room, two ADA-compliant restrooms, and a renovated front entrance,

The library used a Keystone Recreation Park and Conservation Fund Grant it received in 2018 from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries in the amount of $169,699 toward the building addition. Matching funds were obtained through grants, donations from community groups, bequests and gifts from local families.

In February 2020, board members, school board members, borough council members, and others gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony at the library.

Also at that time, the library launched its capital campaign, which will help equip the building and replace some of the funds that will be taken from its operating reserve.

In January 2020, borough council awarded the bid for the library expansion project to R.C. Construction Associates Inc. in the amount of $391,122.

The project had to be bid out a second time after borough council in November 2019 rejected the bids that were received after they came in between $100,000 to $200,000 over the library’s budget.

Upper Park project

Lehighton’s Upper Park underwent a transformation in 2019 as part of a project that included new sidewalks, lighting, walkways and amphitheater improvements.

Borough Manager Nicole Beckett previously said the total contract with Kobalt Construction Inc. came to $517,900, which didn’t include the purchase of the lighting, along with all of the work that the borough’s Light and Power Department has done.

Along with the new lighting - including much more perimeter lighting - sidewalks were installed, and the amphitheater was refurbished and is ADA-accessible from the South Street side.

Beckett said 25 benches have been ordered based on funds from the borough’s Parks and Recreation Board, with installation from the borough.

In October 2019, borough council opted to not add nine benches in the amount of $15,000 around the perimeter of the park due to budgetary restraints.

Beckett notified council members at that time that the borough didn’t have the funds for those benches.

Abelovsky said the Parks and Recreation Board had raised $40,000 for benches through the capital campaign project to pay for about 25 benches.

In conjunction with the Upper Park project, the borough offered the painted benches that once graced the park back to those who sponsored them. Replacement pavers in the newly renovated amphitheater were made available to those interested in continuing the honor or memory that the benches represented.

On a 5-0 vote at a special meeting in June 2019, council agreed to award a contract for the Upper Park renovation project in the amount of $468,500 to Kobalt Construction Inc., which was also the project coordinator for the borough’s refurbished downtown park.

The borough received funding in the amount of $350,000 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority for improvements to the park, which is used for concerts, movies and other community events.