(Photo by Abby Cavenaugh)

Bert Flinchum of B & F Plumbing prepares to remove some of the piping in the Hampton B. Allen Library as part of a renovation project that started on Wednesday, Sept. 7.

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Over the next six weeks, the Hampton B. Allen Library in Wadesboro will get new flooring, new bathrooms and a new kitchen as part of a $50,000 renovation project.

The renovations started on Wednesday, Sept. 7, and are expected to be completed by the end of October, said director of building maintenance Jeff Waisner.

On the second day of the project, Bert Flinchum of B & F Plumbing was working on making the public rest room handicapped-accessible. Where there were two bathrooms before, a wall has been knocked down and the rest room will be one, larger room, with a door that is ADA-approved.

The flooring throughout the library will also be replaced. “We’re taking up all of the carpet and will be putting down a vinyl tile,” said library director Donald Perkins.

“I looked back in our records and the library moved in [this building] in 1972,” he added. “Not much has been done since then.”

“This is one of the many projects the county is working on to bring our buildings up to date,” Waisner said. “It’s long overdue.”

The library will remain open throughout the renovation process. “We will be working on the weekends when we have to move the books so it won’t be an inconvenience to anyone,” Waisner said.

The renovation is being funded by the county’s general fund.

In other construction news, the demolition of the former Armory building on Country Club Road in Wadesboro has been completed. “They came in on a Tuesday and finished that Saturday at 4 p.m.,” Waisner said. “They came back on that Monday to clean up and they were done.”

Construction on the new Emergency Services and Transportation headquarters, which will be built on the Armory site, will probably not start until at least next year. “Hopefully, we can put it in the budget for 2012 or 2013,” Waisner said.

“[County Manager Lawrence] Gatewood has been the driving force behind getting this all pushed through,” he added. “And the library staff has been very appreciative to the Board of Commissioners for getting this done.”