March 27, 2015
CITY OF TONAWANDA PUBLIC LIBRARY
Anniversary Open House
Special Program Presented by Ned Schimminger and Jay Holler
Wednesday April 15, 2015
Open House and Refreshments: 5 PM • Program: 6:00 PM
City of Tonawanda Public Library
April 14, 1964 was a ground breaking day in the City of Tonawanda (see photo below). On that day, Mrs. Stuart (Betty) Tuck, Library Board President, displaced the first shovel of soil from a parcel of land that is now known as 333 Main Street. This address became the new location for the City of Tonawanda Public Library. Mayor Lloyd Long and Council President Leon Peuquet secured city funding for a 50/50 match with funds from the Federal Accelerated Public Works Program to construct the new library building. The total amount of funding for the building was $212,000. 333 Main Street stands at the corner of Main and Roosevelt Avenue, nestled next to the former Clint Small Stadium, home of the Tonawanda Warrior athletes until 2013.
The building was designed by the architectural firm Pfohl, Stoll & Roberts of Niagara Street in Buffalo, New York. Roswell Pfohl worked on many noteworthy projects in the Buffalo area including “raising the roof” at the former Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (the “Aud”). Apparently a signature act of his was to place a soldered copper box into the date stone of buildings he designed. It appears that he chose similar items to place into these time capsules. A recent date stone removal at the Pfohl-designed Kaegebein School on Grand Island, NY contained this copper time capsule for that school. This act of encapsulating a copper box was performed with the date stone for the new Tonawanda Library during the dedication ceremony on May 16, 1965. The items contained in the library’s copper box included copies of area newspapers, library records, photos of the new and old library, a mint set of 1964 coins, and a history of the library with book circulation figures.
The current library building remains largely unchanged from the original design. With the exception of making the building handicap accessible in the early 1990s, most renovation work to the building has occurred since 2009. This includes a complete upgrade to the Main Street vestibule, all sidewalks, landscaping, and mechanical/electrical/ water fixture replacements. All of the mechanical, electrical, and water upgrades have been calculated to make the building not only more comfortable and functional, but also more energy efficient and water conservative.
To learn more about the history of the library, please join us on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 6 PM for a presentation by Society member Ned Schimminger and Library Trustee Jay Holler. Open House begins at 5 PM with music from harpist Beth Anne Breneman and light refreshments.
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Library Board President, Mrs. Stuart (Betty) Tuck (with shovel) is joined by City of Tonawanda Mayor Lloyd Long and numerous local dignitaries at the April 14, 1964 ground breaking for the new Tonawanda Public Library at 333 Main Street. In the photo are Board members Karl Manhardt, Rev. Harold Drown, and George Peuquet; Common Council President Leon Peuquet and members Arthur Scheitheir and Donald Creasey; Board of Education President Stuart Horton; and Librarian Mrs. Buford (Marjorie) Bellinger.
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Quiz Time
Can you identify what is represented by the images in these three photos? Extra credit goes to those that can further explain the connection between these three images. The answers are located within the text of the LUMBER SHOVER.
Answers to the quiz: Photo A is the former Central School across from Clinton Park Bandshell, photo B is the former Railroad Station (now Historical Society of Tonawandas Museum), and photo C is the current library building. What they have in common is that they all housed the library at various points over the past 100 years.
