ORANGE – The Wheeler Memorial Library’s basement level remains closed to the public following a mid-July flooding, and the director said it will stay that way until the floor is restored – a project that cannot begin until an accessibility ramp is installed on the building’s eastern side.

Jason Sullivan-Flynn, who took over the head position on May 4, said no materials or computers were affected, but the carpets in the Children’s Room and Community Room are unsalvageable, forcing all children’s programming to be temporarily moved to the Moore-Leland Library at 172 Athol Road.

“There was an error in the construction of the ramp that exposed a drainage issue. So that’s what we’re working through, getting a solution to that. This is going to involve an insurance claim,” he said in his office on Thursday afternoon. “The carpet is wrecked. It’s not suitable for the public to go down there until the restoration has been [completed] and the restoration can’t be begun until the ramp is done.

“I discovered [the situation] when I walked downstairs and I was walking on a wet sponge when I hit the carpet,” he added.

Walker Powell, Orange’s community development director, explained that the contractor hired to build an ADA-compliant ramp found an issue with a drainage pipe and tried unsuccessfully to remedy the problem, instead of the contacting the project’s engineer. A rainstorm occurred shortly after, causing the water damage to the basement. Powell said the Highway Department later discovered an underground clog and a section of broke pipe, and a separate contractor is expected to visit next week to fix it.

In the meantime, Powell said, the ramp contractor can work on other aspects of the project and will be able to finish the ramp in a day or two once the repair to the pipe is made. She said she hopes the ramp, made possible by a $81,000 ADA grant, will be completed by the final week of September.

A modest collection of new children’s materials is available on Wheeler Memorial’s second floor. Also, the Moore-Leland Library has temporarily expanded its hours to Mondays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“We’re doing the absolute best we can,” said Sullivan-Flynn, who had previously been the children’s librarian for eight years. That role is now filled by April Violette.

Wheeler Memorial has become increasingly embattled over the past few years. In November 2022, residents quashed a debt-exclusion override by 58 votes at the ballot box, declining to authorize the ability to borrow up to $10.4 million to supplement a $5 million state grant for a renovation project. The building has fallen into disrepair and the basement already had extremely poor ventilation and relies almost entirely on ceiling fans and a dehumidifier. The library also needs a new roof, as the current one leaks regularly, and there is no dedicated staff space.

About a year ago, the library was visited by two “First Amendment auditors” and pushed for a staffer to be fired when she told them video recording was not allowed in the building. “First Amendment audits” consist of people exercising their rights to record video in public spaces like town halls, libraries, police stations and parking lots. Though largely peaceful, some “auditors” have been known to use antagonizing or condescending tones and tactics if confronted by people uncomfortable with the presence of a camera. Jessica Magelaner, the library director at the time, told the auditors they had the right to record video, but requested they be respectful and not make people uncomfortable or record any sensitive information on computer screens. Videos, like the one taken inside Wheeler Memorial, are posted online, primarily to YouTube.

Then, earlier this year, there was a possibility of the library being zero-funded and closed at the end of the fiscal year on June 30 to make up for an estimated $338,000 paid in fraudulent invoices by town officials in July 2023.

Town Administrator Matthew Fortier and other members of the town’s finance team discovered the fraud a year ago. Though the total was more than $800,000, the banks were able to stop some of those payments, Fortier said. The matter is being investigated by the Orange Police Department, the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office and the FBI, which assigned an agent to the case.

A third balanced budget proposed at the Annual Town Meeting this May included $335,000 for the Wheeler Memorial and Moore-Leland libraries. This figure — down nearly $44,000 from what the libraries were allocated in the previous fiscal year — was the result of a May 21 library trustees meeting attended by Fortier, Selectboard Chair Tom Smith and Selectboard member Julie Davis.

According to the libraries’ website, the Wheeler Memorial Library was a gift to the town from Almira Wheeler Thompson in honor of her late husband, John W. Wheeler, a lifelong resident of Orange and president of the New Home Sewing Machine Company. Construction began in the fall of 1912, and the building was officially dedicated and opened to the public on April 17, 1914. The building’s age and the region’s high water table have resulted in a significant number of necessary renovations. Donations to the Wheeler Library Building Project can be made at: tinyurl.com/4dyaarct.

“We need full accessibility in this building. We need a ramp, we need an elevator, we need a bathrooms that people can get into if they have mobility issues,” Sullivan-Flynn said. “Right now we don’t have any of those things. When the ramp is done we’ll have one of them and keep working.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.