Sewickley Township library supporters hold fundraiser; new building in the works

A Sewickley Township library support group is helping to raise money with an Election Day Soup & Bake Sale for the small library that has been forced to move into temporary facilities.

There are plans for a new building in Herminie.

“We’ve got volunteers lined to donate more than 100 quarts and 100 pints of homemade soup and loads of sweet treats,” said Lori Waryanka, a member of the volunteer group consisting of young mothers and senior citizens.

The sale will be held beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Herminie United Methodist Church, 3365 Pike St., until the supplies are sold out. The library has about 18 varieties of soup donated, as of Friday, Waryanka said.

“We get a big community turnout,” for the fundraiser, said Marci Suggars, president of the library board.

Through its fundraising initiatives, the Friends group donates $1,500 quarterly to the library for a multitude of child and adult programming, library supplies acquisition and the annual summer reading program, Waryanka said.

The library’s temporary home is in the first floor of the former township municipal authority office along Sewickley Avenue in Herminie, which the township is providing to the library. The library moved there in mid-April after being closed for about two months, because the recreation center that housed the library in Herminie was abruptly closed in early February when structural problems were discovered with the building.

To ensure a stable future for the library, the Yough School District gave the library board a .6-acre parcel adjacent to the H.W. Good Elementary School along the Herminie-West Newton Road in Herminie for a new building. The township in September approved the subdivision of the property and the board anticipated filing the deed at the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Friday, said Marci Suggars, library board president.

The library envisions construction of a building that would be between 4,000 and 4,500-square-feet, Suggars said. The anticipated cost has yet to be determined, Suggars said.

“We’re going to build what we can afford. We don’t want to get in over our head … to have a mortgage,” Suggars said.

In order to make the dream a reality, Suggars said, the library board plans to conduct an extensive fundraising campaign, including a capital campaign and seeking grants from private and public foundations, as well as government support.

The library board does not plan to be part of any building that might be constructed on the site of the former building. Westmoreland County will advertise for bids this month to demolish the rec center that was part of the former high school on Highland Avenue, as requested by the township supervisors.

Hallie Chatfield, senior project manager for the Redevelopment Authority of Westmoreland County, said demolition likely will not occur until early next year.

Mark Petros, chairman of the township supervisors, said there are no plans to include a library in a township recreation center and no decision has been made on whether the municipality will build a new recreation center.