Debate continues over Pike public library building

Cost and location are current issues

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA — The president of the Pike County Public Library wishes she could, but she can’t.

Please everybody, that is.

“I wish there was a way to keep everybody happy, but there isn’t,” said Maleyne Syracuse, President of the Pike County Library Board of Directors.

The new plan for the $8.5 million new library project on East Harford Street in Milford has its supporters and its detractors. In past months, the main opposition centered around what some considered the ultra-modern architectural design, which some attest does not mesh with the traditional architecture of Milford.

That issue now seems moot. Opponents now object to the high price of the proposed facility in Milford, and they advocate that if there is a library headquarters, it should be in a more central location in Pike County.

Four people who were either central board members or associate board members have resigned over the issues.

“My main concern is that excessive funds are being channeled to the plans for the building that will house the library in Milford without consideration for the satellite branches in Pike County,” said Charlotte Zulick, an associate member of the board, before she resigned in protest.

“There are about 1,200 residents of Milford Borough in a county that will soon have a population of about 65,000,” said William Griffin, former board member who served eight years on the board. He also resigned over the issues of cost and location. “I think the location of the main branch should be in one of the largest, fastest growing townships in the county, where more of the people live.”

Those are Lehman, Dingman and Delaware townships in the southern part of the county.

“With three or four million dollars, we could put up three or four branches and readily serve the whole county,” he said.

“We have hundreds and hundreds of supporters for the new library plan for Milford,” Syracuse said. So far, the proponents of the plan have raised about $1.3 million from private donations. Recently, the new plan received a $1 million grant through state representative John Siptroth’s office.

In defense of Milford as the primary location for the headquarters, Syracuse said, “Milford is the county seat and the most prominent town in the county. Also, the $1.2 million donation from [deceased Milford resident] Dorothy Warner stipulates that the grant must be spent in Milford.”

Any state money the library will receive will come from the Economic Development Office, she said.

“It is clear that they want to see investment in existing towns—in the small towns of the county that have suffered as growth has occurred around them,” she said. “So we are trying to align with those state economic development principles. We would very likely not get the money if we spent it outside of Milford.”

She said that the new plan expects to get between $2.5 to $3.5 million from the state.

A member of the current board who is supportive of the plan is Mary Helen Schmalzle of Blooming Grove. “It’s most important that we have a central branch that has all the resources it needs to serve the entire county,” she said. “The $8.5 million isn’t just for the building and grounds, but it will pay for the array of library resources that we do not have yet in sufficient numbers.”

Schmalzle disagrees with those who say the headquarters should not be in Milford. “Milford is the biggest population center,” she said. Also supportive of the Milford branch as the headquarters of the county library are residents Kim Stine, JoAnne Ropke, Terry Balton and her college-age son Ryan.

Syracuse explained that the library board has a seven-year plan that would serve the entire county well.

“After the new headquarters is built, we would develop a number of store-front branches in the western and southern part of the county, perhaps one in Blooming Grove and Lehman. These could immediately be put into use,” she said. “Then in another two years, we would build stand-alone buildings to replace the store-fronts.”

“I think we should stop fighting with each other over this,” Schmalzle said. “It doesn’t get the real job done.”