Four new columns are being installed onto the historic Carnegie Library building. Photo courtesy Patchogue-Medford Library
When walking up to the Carnegie Library in Patchogue, the newly installed columns will provide a signature look to the building’s exterior.
Jack Sandezer, the project manager at The Facilities Management Group (TFMG), said that each of the four columns are rated to hold up to 18,000 pounds. The columns themselves are made of a material that the manufacturer calls “polymarble,” which the TFMG believes is made up of a type of fiberglass as well as either crushed stone or marble. Including the capital and base, the top and bottom of each column, each one weighs approximately 600-700 pounds.
Sandezer said that the company worked to match the new columns as closely as possible to the ones being removed.
“From the old pictures we tried to match the style of column, capital and base the best we could to the original,” Sandezer said.
While it is not known if the older columns that were removed were the original ones built into the Carnegie Library, they were made of oak and over the years had rotten a few feet up from the bottom.
Sandezer said they were able to discover that the columns were modified or replaced in some way using older photos of the library.
“The capitals were not original and the columns themselves were at least cut at the bottom, perhaps to remove rotten wood, if not entirely replaced,” Sandezer said.
The Carnegie Library is set to become the home to Patchogue-Medford Library’s Young Adult department as part of an ongoing $1.5 million project. The building, currently set for completion in Jan. 2016, is located at the corner of W. Main Street and West Avenue in Patchogue Village.
Previous Carnegie Library Coverage:
Carnegie Library’s new columns are getting installed (photos)
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Carnegie Library undergoing floor repairs, window work for its restoration (photos)
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