The Andover Library Trustees and directors have been engaged in a planning process for the last two years in an effort to redesign the entrance to the Andover Library, with universal access and safety as the primary goals. The current ramp is unsafe for three reasons: snow slides from the roof; the ramp exits onto a driveway; and it is a single long “run” with no break. 

The current steps are unsafe, too: the rise is unacceptably high, and the granite is slippery in foul weather. 

Our architect’s plan calls for a concrete ramp, starting from a new landing and heading west, that then takes a right angle north and empties into newly designated handicapped parking on the Main Street side of the building. 

This plan necessitates eliminating the current driveway and raising the grade to accommodate the ramp. Then the whole Town Hall would then be in accordance with ADA guidelines.

The trustees are very excited, as you can well imagine, and are presently sitting with detailed drawings, which we have shared with the Select Board and hope to present to the Budget Committee so they’ll be available for budget hearings in January and February. 

Although we’d love to have the backing of the Select Board and the Budget Committee, it is you, the townspeople, who must choose to help us make the building ADA compliant and accessible to all. Stay tuned for progress, and feel free to contact any one of us with questions.