Corbin Public Library plans ground breaking ceremony Thursday

The Corbin Public Library will celebrate a milestone in the effort to renovate the annex building Thursday with a short groundbreaking ceremony.

Library Director Donna Chadwell said the ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m., just before the library board holds its regular monthly meeting.

“The gutting is pretty much done and we are getting ready to start the real stuff,” Chadwell explained.

The library purchased the annex building that faces Roy Kidd Ave. in 2016 with plans to expand the facility.

In 2017, the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives offered a $636,000 repayable grant to fund the proposed renovations.

As part of the terms of the grant, the library had to put up $100,000 of its own money.

Immediate plans for the project include construction of a community room, conference room, staff office and café area on the first floor.

The new conference and community rooms will be twice the size of the library’s current facility.

“I can’t wait because one of the problems is juggling space for our programs,” Chadwell said.

“There are some programs that we have to turn away people because we just don’t have the space.”

The second floor of the building has also been gutted, but that part of the construction will be on hold until additional funds are available.

The construction is scheduled to be completed by July.