Politics & Government

Six Week Delay in Opening New Library

The elevator is on back-order.

Call it the ups and downs of the construction field. The re-opening of the new library on Court Street will be delayed for an additional six weeks, recreation manager Mitch Austin announced earlier this week, due to a delay in getting the new elevator.

At a meeting of the Park, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission, Austin explained to the members that each elevator is custom built to the shaft. So it can be ordered based on the plans, or once the actual shaft is built. The project manager chose to order the new library elevator based on the actual shaft, only to find that elevators are on back order.

"That does give us time to get the furtiture in and have all the needs met with all the electrical and other work," he said.

Find out what's happening in Martinezwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As a result, the new library will not be open until September. On the bright side, Austin said he now knows more about elevators than he ever thought he would.

The delay means an additional $15,000 to $20,000 more in staff costs at the temporary library at the old train station at the end of Ferry Street.

Find out what's happening in Martinezwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here