Air handlers have arrived downtown

Tue, 05/12/2009 - 2:08pm by Clarence Cromwell

Get ready to feel more comfortable when using the downtown library.

Our contractors have a portable crane set up on the city parking lot next to the library. They have just about finished removing the old air handlers from the building, depositing the pieces in a large roll-off container in the parking lot. The parts had to come out of the basement through a large pit on the north side of building that provides access to the basement through wide double-doors--intended for just such purposes. Those two pieces of equipment have been heating and cooling the building since it was originally constructed in the 1950s; the new units are expected to do a better job.

The library had a total of five air handlers, but the others are of more recent vintage.

A crew from Pace mechanical spent the past week or two disconnecting and dismantling the old equipment. (Some patrons and employees noticed a strong smell of burning metal upstairs yesterday, as the workers cut up some parts of the old equipment with saws, grinders and torches.) The new air handlers have been sitting on the ground next to the crane, and they will be installed this afternoon and tomorrow. The library board approved the purchase of new air handlers in February.