A courtyard renovation project at Sharpsburg Community Library is being sent back to the drawing board after contract bids for the work came in over budget.
Council unanimously voted Dec. 18 to reject the bids. The vote was needed because the borough owns the building.
However, the project is being funded by the library and designed with assistance from borough engineer Matt Pitsch and landscape designer Bill Staley of Fox Chapel.
Councilwoman Sarah Ishman said she is confident library officials will bounce back from the setback.
“It will be terrific to have this project get underway,” Ishman said after the meeting. “It’s unfortunate that the bid quotes came back too high. It’s part of the problem sometimes with these grant cycles and the rising cost of everything.
“By the time you apply for the grant, get the grant and then finally get to go out for bid with it, costs are way higher than when that whole process started. We’ll have to figure out that part of it.
“The library is a great partner and provides a lot of resources to people in Sharpsburg. We’re excited to keep working with them on this to make sure we get something out to bid that we can accept.”
The last public event at the library’s outdoors space was the Haunted Courtyard during the borough’s Halloween parade and celebration.
Project funding
The Sharpsburg library is a branch of the Fox Chapel-based Cooper-Siegel Community Library.
Library Executive Director Jill McConnell said a bid opening took place with branch manager Sara Mariacher and Pitsch on Nov. 17.
There were four bidders with price ranges between $64,000 and $167,000.
“It is a wide range,” McConnell said. “The majority were closer to that $64,000 figure. We really didn’t know what the project was going to cost. We knew what we had in the budget for it. We really had no idea if that was going to be enough.
“This is our first go at this. Some of the materials that were specified were high-end. There is some room (for adjustments).”
The library has about $30,000 earmarked for the project.
Funds are part of a $78,324 grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District’s Transformative Community Library Fund.
The grant’s initial purpose was to create locker stations at the Sharpsburg library and near Jersey Mike’s sub shop in Blawnox.
The lockers were meant to be creative and convenient places for people to pick up and return materials.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony at both locations took place Aug. 13.
Some money also was used for a study to assess the hours of operation and recommend times to better serve patrons.
Additional grant funding is being sought to implement study recommendations next year.
Library officials plan to revisit courtyard designs in January with the goal to rebid the work in February.
The original plan was to award the project this winter and have it ready for spring programming.
Those activities likely will remain indoors.
“It’s a bit disappointing because, of course, we want to be able to move forward with the project,” Mariacher said.
“It’s already been over a year since we originally received the grant from the Regional Asset District to move forward with designing this project. … We are really not any closer ultimately to having an upgraded courtyard for our community to use.”
Mariacher said she remains hopeful things will work out by summer.
McConnell said everyone working on the project is putting in a lot of time and effort and thinking positively.
“It’s actually been really great,” McConnell said. “Everyone is really committed to seeing this project come to fruition. It’s been great to have the support of the borough to help with the bidding process and handling all of that for us.”
There are no plans for courtyard-specific fundraising. Officials may use money raised from the 2024 capital campaign for a proposed Cooper-Siegel expansion should the next round of bids remain high.
Project development
The courtyard was created in 2014 as part of a major library expansion that was completed the following year.
Problems with plant life have necessitated its redevelopment.
Roots from its two large Zelkova trees have forced the courtyard’s permeable brick pavers to become uneven in many locations, creating tripping hazards. Chairs often lean to one side or the other, making seating uncomfortable.
And there is an increased risk of items falling off tables.
One of the 35- to 40-foot trees will be removed so the other can thrive.
Courtyard plans presented a few months ago show at least two seating areas in the space where the tree is to be removed.
Plans also include new furniture and larger permeable pavers to help improve stability and aesthetics, as well as a variety of indigenous pollinator plants for the flower bed.
Among the plant options are coneflowers, creeping blue sedum, serviceberry, lady fern and blue angel hosta.
The library has partnered with Tree Pittsburgh arborist Meg Cerveny to address the trees and fund that portion of the project.
New structural soil will be installed to minimize future problems with hardscape areas.
Structural soil is described as an engineered blend of large-size aggregate, such as crushed stone, and a small amount of topsoil. It is designed to provide a stable, uncompacted growing space for tree roots while being strong enough for paved surfaces.
Arborist services and pending tree removal are being covered as part of an $8 million federal grant received last year by the Pittsburgh Canopy Alliance Partners through the U.S. Forest Service via the Inflation Reduction Act.