Carrabassett Valley Library Ground Breaking  Ground Breaking for New Carrabassett Valley   Public Library & Community Center CARRABASSETT VALLEY , Maine - The new Carrabassett Valley Public Library & Community Center will be holding a ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 11:00 am. The new building will be located adjacent to the Anti-Gravity Complex in Carrabassett Valley, at the base of Sugarloaf. "It has been a dream of mine over the last 40 years for the Town of Carrabassett Valley to have a library we can all be proud of, and I am delighted to finally see this dream coming true," said Joyce Demshar, founding board member of the Carrabassett Valley Public Library & Community Center. "Through a lot of hard work, faith, hope, and contributions, residents and guests of our beautiful valley, our town will have a facility that will be a true asset to our community, a monument and welcoming center for all to enjoy. I am proud to be a member of this far-seeing community." A new library has always been part of the long term comprehensive plan for the Town of Carrabassett Valley, and for 18 years they have been allocating modest amounts in a reserve fund for a new building. (The current library operates in a very small leased space which it has outgrown.) By 2006, the new building fund had grown to approximately $35,000.00. In the spring of 2006, a committee was formed to develop a plan to move things forward. The plan would ultimately include not just space for a library but rental space for the local childcare (Western Maine Center for Children, headed by Marcia White) and a community room for continuing education, art exhibits, cultural events, after-school and senior activities. The New Building Committee brought the plan to the town with a commitment to raise private funds to alleviate some of the estimated $1.5 million in project costs. The town voted to accept the proposal and the committee got busy and launched a Capital Campaign called Building for the Future. Successful grant writing resulted in contributions totaling $165,500. Thanks to: The Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation, Maine State Library New Century Construction Grant, The Betterment Fund, Davis Foundation, Camden National Bank, King Cummings Foundation, Morton Kelly Trust, Plum Creek Foundation and the Sugarloaf Region Charitable Trust. Individual donations and pledges have come in abundantly with the most significant gift coming from long time locals, Clem and Rolande Begin. Private gifts, grants and pledges have totaled close to $500,000 to date. Not to be overlooked are the generous donations of property upon which the new facility will be built. CNL Income Sugarloaf, LLC and Carrabassett Valley Academy have generously donated land to this project. The architectural plans by Reed & Co., are impressive. The building will have sloping roofs, red exterior siding and a wood timber screen wall which forms one side of the covered entrance porch. Inside, the Entrance Hall will have comfortable sitting areas for socializing and wood walls which can be used for local artists to display their work. From the Entrance Hall, one can enter either into the Community Meeting Room, Library or Childcare wing. Adjacent to the Entrance Hall are shared rooms such as storage, restrooms and a kitchen. The Carrabassett Valley Public Library will be a state-of-the-art multi-use facility, combining essential community resources for all ages uniting the young & old. It will be a place which other communities will look to emulate. Carrabassett Valley resident and a long time library volunteer, Louise Chase, who will turn 81 this July had this to say about the new library and community center project, "I am so happy I will be able to volunteer and enjoy a real Carrabassett Valley Library in my lifetime. Libraries have been an important part of my life since I was a young girl." The project will be managed by H.E. Callahan, Co. from Auburn, Maine. They have worked closely with the town, the New Building Committee and the project's architect to monitor construction costs. They have been given a guaranteed not-to-exceed construction contract of $1.3 million. The building is expected to be completed by January 2010. Present at the ground breaking ceremony on May 19th will be: Dave Cota, Town Manager; Town Board of Selectmen; Tom Lithgow, Director of Investments for CNL; John Ritzo, Headmaster for CVA; Clem & Rolande Begin; Carrabassett Valley Public Library Board of Directors; Western Maine Center for Children Board of Directors and the New Building Committee Members.